Hafnia

His ball retention is shite, sorry but it is. £20m my arse...

Has my opinion on lukaku started to hit home at all? the lad should have the attitude and fire of Origi but plays with the attitude of ibrahimovic. Sorry romelu, you are not convincing me to change my view on you.

Costa Rica drug tests??? If there is drug that makes you 100% committed to playing for your country and forget about your own ego then they may have taken that.

Sounds like he's almost a drenthe in his ability and attitude.

16/1 both Honduras and Ecuador to get red card...

Not really, Italy will not want to finish 2nd in the group.

If we beat Costa Rica 2-0 and Italy beat Costa Rica by 2+ goals, and beat uraguay. We are through... wierd but it is not over as miguel said.

That's not too difficult... considering in the previous ones he's been utter garbage, in this one he was ok. Still trying to undertand why he kept wanting to tackle Barkley though...

You know who I was thinking last night for the holding role if English... "James McCarthy", he would have been immense for this England side.

Henderson played on his "reputation" for Liverpool... but Barkley couldn't get in on his performances for Everton.

Posted it elsewhere but his caution with Barkley was a joke, Henderson & Gerrard.... just no flair or threat.

No, the world cup is a funny tournament, Tim is just a pure beast who will run through a brick wall for a team and has an amazing will to win.

Another note - ROSS BARKLEY. He's an albatross for dour managers... its like giving a Ferrari to someone who's favourite car is a smart car for economy. "I'm not prepared to address your obsession with Ross Barkley," said Hodgson. "He lost the ball an awful lot of times as well. If he's going to be the player we want him to be, he has to make better decisions of when he turns with the ball. "That's not a criticism, but there were other performances out there today who merited your 'obsession' more than Ross Barkley's. ***************************************************************************************************************************************************** There’s been a lot of stuff said because he came in, done OK and done better than against Tottenham [his other Everton start during 2012/13], so I hope he is better again next time," said Moyes. “ He's not ready to be someone who's starting every game and every week, that's for sure" - Moyes on Ross Barkley, April 2013 "He has a lot of maturing to do to make sure he does not lose the ball in the wrong areas of the pitch. I can see he has got confidence from it, hopefully that will help. We have to bring him along and hope we get him better over the next year or two. "If you’re dropping your shoulder and losing it at the edge of their box, it's not a problem – but if you’re doing it at the edge of your box then it is a problem. They are the sort of things he has to come to terms with. [Fans] would want to see a lot of him but I can tell you he's not ready to be someone who's starting every game and every week, that's for sure."

Hodgson should resign just for his "Suarez isn't world class" comments alone - what an ablsolute fool. The lad was 70% fit at best and he no doubt had those words in his mind to keep him motivated right up till he scored the winner. Harry Redknapp was the right man for this tournament - I don't particulary like his scruples etc, but he would have done better. This sounds crazy but I would have Glenn Hoddle back in there, he knows his tactics, players, footballing principles etc etc.

I just knew before this tournament that dour Roy would ruin it. The squad of players were better than our results, i'm not one of these "England can win world cup" - but seriously the set up was just wrong.

Think Baines has been poor myself, Jags out of his depth, Hodgson can go along with Lampard, Gerrard, Baines (replace with Shaw), Jags (play Stones), Johnson (anyone is better than him), Seriously, I would even tell Rooney to sort his head out also. The new England should be built around the likes of Barkley, Sterling, Shaw, every tournament we have some deadwood holding on for just too long.

Watching us tonight was like watching Everton v Liverpool in the semi-finals at Wembley. Could have beaten them, a few retirements due.

Bottled it. Corner asking for it.

He ran like he was pulling a fucking sledge. Barkley can change this.

Not a bad effort but Baines should have had that from that range.

Lukaku touched the ball in alegerias half, he just gave it away.

Take him off and the other team scored

nah he can do one, didnt fancy us a few years ago, and not good enough now.

Its not just my opinion regarding the early maturity of co-ordination. I know I have quoted Arsene Wenger on this, but I know Joe Harts dad used to throw balls at him from a young age as a P.E Teacher he knew it was when he would develop the motor skills at the most optimal time. Developing basic coordination through movement stimulus is a must, with the eventual goal of developing sport-specific coordination in the teenage years. Coordination itself however, is a global system made up of several synergistic elements and not necessarily a singularly defined ability. Balance, rhythm, spatial orientation and the ability to react to both auditory and visual stimulus have all been identified as elements of coordination. In fact, the development of good coordination is a multi-tiered sequence that progress from skills performed with good spatial awareness but without speed, to skills performed at increased speeds and in a constantly changing environment. As Joseph Drabik points out in his book ‘Children & Sports Training’, coordination is best developed between the ages of 7 – 14, with the most crucial period being between 10 – 13 years of age. The ability to optimally develop coordination ends at around the age of 16. As stated in my above post, controlling a football off the deck probably requires the most variables for the brain to process.

Learning to play a guitar and being able to control a football "well" are different though Steve. (Fair play to your Dad BTW) Theres a massive amount of information being processed when a ball is going towards a player, "where do I want it to drop" "what will I do next" "how fast is it going" "do I need to change position"... For me one of the biggest problems with Rom is his balance. He is rarely in a position to use his size and strength effectively as he is often off balance. Struggling to maintain balance means zero chance of controlling a ball. He just looks all over the place when a ball is hit at him. Conversely look at the best touch from a centre forward I have seen - Berbatov. The man is languid, feet rooted till the very last few metres of ball flight where he basically kills the ball. Often criticised for being lazy, I seen him as being one of the best hold up players and number 9's and its down to his touch. Lukaku isn't near having the quality of touch to make the most of his awesome physical potential. At best it may get ok, he just doesn't have it - like I can't do a drop shot in squash or tennis despite years of trying - some just have that ability.