Eng-Er-Land - A Good Performance?

[AB Editor]

Morning!

While it was a disappointing score at the end of the game I must say that it was really nice to see England playing some proper football. My usual position while watching England is to have my head in my hands as they waste time when a goal down passing it along a back four of old men - for no discernible reason.

It was good stuff vs. Italy and I'd like to see us keep playing that way!

Am I alone in this strange, warm, good feeling I have towards the current England team?

[Ken4155]

The 2 main differences between then and now, Anne, are that we did not lose our first game in '66 and we kept 3 clean sheets in the group stages. In fact the first team to score against us were Portugal (the magnificent, ever smiling Eusebio) in the semi finals.

[Ken4155]

Being a stats man, here's a few for you to chew upon whilst waiting for the Uruguay game. In some respects, England have been the 3rd best team in the tournament; total shots on goal, Ivory Coast 21, France 20, England 18 - and just look at the strength of opposition those 2 teams were up against compared to Italy. Passing accuracy (something we're not renowned for); Italy (or should that read Pirlo) 93.2%, France 91%, England 90.8%. Passing accuracy in opposition half; Italy 88%, France 87%, England 86.9%. To be honest, having earlier written off our chances of progressing from the group, i am beginning to believe that it may just be possible - if only Uruguay put in a repeat performance.