re: Match Thread Group D England vs Uruguay 3PM EST/8PM BST ESPN/ITV

Way to take what I was saying out of context. It flattered to deceive because it made it seem as if Gerrard was able to play the double pivot England managers have been dying for him to play since his first cap, rather than a very specific deep-lying role, one that required two shuttlers around him rather than one. I'm not implying that he had a bad season, far from it, but to Hodgson, there probably isn't any difference to him in a midfield 2 with a withdrawn forward and a midfield 3 with a no.10.

Hodgson was more thoughtful about Gerrard's partner this time around (this isn't the first time managers have jammed Gerrard in a deep midfield 2 at the expense of more natural deep lying midfielders like Scholes and Carrick) by choosing Henderson, but perhaps he thought that the fluidity of the front four would offer easy and immediate outlets for the double pivot, which they did not. If we look at DLP's, they rarely succeed without 2 midfield runners beside them. Gerrard wasn't put into a position to succeed, but it's not like people weren't aware that Gerrard doesn't do well in a midfield 2. I mean it's been a decade since they've tried it, and it still hasn't worked. The fact that he had a good season in a deep-lying role is what flattered to deceive Hodgson, who probably believed that with age Gerrard finally had the seasoning and experience to excel in a traditional 2 man partnership.

ETA: This is not to say that DLP's only work in 3 man midfields. If a 2 man partnership was what Hodgson wanted, he should have chosen Carrick who has played well there when paired with a more mobile partner.

It's also remarkable that England doesn't have a young manager waiting in the wings or impressing in the lower divisions. Despite all the money in the game English coaches and players are still at a level behind the continent. I do think Hodgson was smart in using Liverpool as his core, as we might as well call how they play the British version of attacking football, but his execution of it was poor.

a bunch of teams have been going the "head coach" route in the lower leagues as opposed to manager. dyche did a heck of a job at burnley last year, and he's pretty young (i think like 43) not sure if he strikes me as a future england manager though. i think of the iain dowie's and paul jewell's and aidy boothroyds who look the part but get chewed up and spit out as quick as they got there.

still think adkins is pretty good, thought both he and mcdermott deserved longer at southampton and reading respectively. i think adkins would/could have stayed on if they didn't have pochettino lined up.

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roberto IMO.

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the prem doesn´t interest me, but I distinctly remember people on this board poopooing Martínez as Moyes´s replacement. Vehemently, in some instances.

Roy said he isn't stepping down

this WC is a another perfect example of why the B team system needs to green light

thats after every match man for the viewings and street parties

last weekend Peterborough looked like a bomb went off