England expects,
so we'll probably lose
And boy is that going to hurt
Not because we're out of the cup
It's just I spent forty pounds on a shirt
But it's always the same
When we play a game
You know the fans will all cry
So I'll give England a snub
When I go down the pub
And pretend I'm from Uruguay

Very low-key exit for Spain. We went out to a local bar, hoping for a bit of atmosphere, but it was almost empty, very little interest in the game and the result was accepted with weary resignation. A bit like the team itself, it seemed to me. No apparent fire in the collective Spanish belly.

Hoping to see a bit more life from England later, but won't be surprised if not.

Germany must be the most convincing side I've seen so far (though I haven't seen all the games), but you do get teams that start slowly and peak at the right time, so perhaps my Argentina pick might still come off.

Operation: get the ball to Sterling.

Lallana and Barkley need to get on earlier this time around too. Our young players are the ones who look hungry and competent.

Bye Bye England.

Absolute rubbish . I say sack them all and start afresh . Gerrard is useless and i dont know how hes the captain . All the hype about Sterling i dont understand .

At least Sterling has a work rate and looks like he wants it. So Rooney scored, that was one less than we needed and two less than we wanted.

Reading the comment about Spain, I think we have the same sense of resignation.

If sterling was that good why was he pulled off .Hes no Micheal Owen just another over hyped england player . At least Rooney and co can have an expensive Holiday break after this god knows they deserve it .

Bye

Why is anyone surprised?
As far as I know, every time since 1966 England have failed to win the football World Cup.

Why should 2014 be different?

Best moment for me was the guy in the middle of the Uruguay fans wearing a tartan tammy, cheering and waving a Scotland flag, just after the 2nd Uruguay goal. I wonder if it was Alex Salmond?

I saw that Scottish guy - made me chuckle at the idea of someone spending thousands of pounds to go and watch England being not very good!
Reminded me of



McGlashan!

Aye any excuse for a drink, I think he was looking for a change of scenery...

Lol, there's a spot on bbc news site about it now:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-27939845

England are to have a new captain next week.

His name is Roger Smith and he's the pilot for the flight home.

That's good!

Then you really have no idea about football, raheem sterling is one of the youngest players to ever put an England shirt on, the fact he is 19yrs old and playing in a world cup against the copa America cup winners, world cup semi finalists and confed cup semi finalists says it all!

Steven Gerrard being captain? I literally have not got enough time to explain why. The guy is the drive force behind club and country. I can't name a better midfielder that England have had since Paul Gascoigne. As for being useless that's just laughable.

England were last night beaten by a world class player and team. I personally don't think they have anything to be ashamed of.

Just shows you know naff all about the game . Maybe in the future he will be a world class player for england maybe not . I heard the same thing about Rooney . Just because you are picked to play against world class players does not make you world class . Gerrard is a joke and over the hill .
If you read what most football pundits in the daily sport sections you might learn something http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/spo...lane-home.html.
Their worse performance at a world cup since 1952 . Nothing to be ashamed of i say nothing to be proud of .

The picture says it all http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...ed-interne.html

You're quoting the sun news paper? Lol And going by what Internet trolls say. I never said Sterling was world class I simply expressed my opinion on the "hype" about Sterling.

The same thing was said about Gerrard in the Mirror ? And go to any of the football forums (not trolls )and you will hardly find a postive word about the way england played after just two games .

Whether or not Gerrard is past it now is debatable, but he will certainly not be good enough in two years time, so he shouldn't be playing for England after this World Cup IMO.

Sterling, Barkley and Lalana are all very promising. Clearly none of them are the finished article yet, but they can all beat a man and have pace.

Our defence is the most worrying aspect though. Against top strikers they don't stand a chance. And I don't see any promising candidates coming through in the coming years (with the exception of Luke Shaw).

England do what we always do, we qualify the media are happy ( we've qualified ) then when it gets nearer the tournament the hype starts (we can go all the way ) the pressure builds the flags and songs come out its a media frenzy, scapegoats are targeted then they find someone to blame when it inevitably goes TITS UP

Oh well after watching Italy struggling against Costa Rica England really have no chance of beating them, so it's more does Italy manage to beat uraguay to get second place

Can't imagine Gerard doing another World Cup but he's in the team for the same reason as Rooney! They just have an ability to create things from nothing at times the same way David Beckham managed to stay in the team so long!
The youngsters are young and may be top class players lets just hope so!!

What David Beckham said a few weeks ago . Reading his comment now is laughable .http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9343436/world-cup-david-beckham-says-englands-young-squad-will-be-up-for-it
I would suggest the whole system is changed from grass roots football to the top .The way it is now does not work and something has to change otherwise this will happen again in four years time .

The trouble is, robcoupe, that England - despite what the media will have you believe - aren't that good at football. It's ok, England is good at lots of things, but we're just not very good at football. Embrace the mediocrity and you'll be a lot less stressed! Gerard is a fine player, as is Rooney, but whether they (or any other England players) would make it into a World B XI is highly doubtful. There may be hope for the new young generation, but I just don't think they are good enough.
The big question is why not.

The premier league and the way it functions is part of the issue.

Top British teams tend to buy quick success rather than develop and grow their own talent. The premier league is one of the wealthiest leagues in the world, with some of the richest clubs. But how many top British players are produced by these clubs?

The thing is, we were in a group with 2 teams ranked above us in the FIFA rankings (yes, I know Spain would say they are meaningless), so it's not real surprise we have come up against to "better" (ranking-wise) and lost both times.

The performances in both games have been head and shoulders above the utter dirge that we served up against the USA and Algeria in the South Africa.
At least we were playing with more attacking intent and pace than we used to.

As for the squad, this was always going to be a championship where we blooded younger players at a higher level, with a view to the next euros and the WC after that.

The younger players have been by far the most impressive of the team, Stirling is not the complete player he will no doubt become, but who else though that shot 5 mins into the Italy game went in? We need players that can have the confidence to try that, rather than the conservative approach we saw under the last 2/3 managers.

We have got the basis of a half decent attack, Wellbeck, Stirling, Rooney or Sturridge....or Crouch, Rooney, Defoe & Heskey?? Which quartet would you prefer?

Our defence are the real issue - we know all about Suarez and Balotelli, but we did nothing to counter them. Our back 4 were the real problem, no idea what anyone sees in Glen Johnson, as bizarre as Sven's love in with Owen Hargreaves.

The other issue is that Costa Rica clearly did their homework in dealing with Italy and Uruguay than we did.


Of course, as a Torquay United fan, my opinion of the problems of English football are probably best ignored.....

I don't care what the Ballon D'or committee think, Messi is still the best player in the world.

An incredible goal exactly when they needed it.