As we so often hear, "Football is a game of two halves," but the England team thinks only the first half counts. It therefore came as no surprise - in fact I fully expected it - when a slovenly start to the second half saw Italy go ahead again. England had 10 corners, and made no fucking use of any of them. Italy had just two or three and scored from one.
Jo Hart - 2/10
Does not inspire confidence generally, and tonight was no exception. Jagielka saved his bacon with the clearance off the line at the end of the first half, after Hart needlessly dashed out and then stayed put like a fucking tombstone. Lucky again when the free kick late on hit the bar while he was star-gazing.
Glen Johnson - 2.5/10
Why the fuck everyone kept on insisting on giving him the fucking ball I don't know. Apart from a few good passes early in the second half, he wasted the ball on a regular basis, or simply passed it back again. He also likes to be out-of-position for 75% of the game.
Wayne Rooney - 1/10
Yes, he passed the ball to Sturridge for the goal, but for the other 89 minutes, he was fucking terrible. Some stupid twat decided he was worth a weekly salary of £250,000. That exemplifies just how fucked up everything is about England, let alone the football team.
Raheem Sterling - 7/10
He was the best player, although in the second half he tended to slow right down, and play pat-a-cake, mostly with Glen Johnson.
Leighton Baines - 3/10
Did very little of any use at all. He got caught for the whole first half by the Italian winger who hugged the touchline and meant he was scrambling backwards, and whenever anyone passed the ball to him going forward, he passed it back again; yawn.
Daniel Sturridge - 6/10
Tried hard and did score a goal. Worth his place, even if he can fall over from a greater height than his starting position when fouled!
Danny Welbeck - 6/10
Another industrious performance, and hustled well.
Steven Gerrard - 4.5/10
Generally okay, and tried a few long passes, so that the receiving player could tap it back again. Was bundled over by the big fucker in the Italian defence, and should have been awarded a penalty. However, he hadn't even enough energy left to appeal. The post-match interview with Gabby Logan was shit enough for me to deduct half a point.
Gary Cahill - 3.5/10
A typical donkey-like performance that included letting Balotelli get behind him to score.
Jordan Hederson - 4/10
Another donkey, but with no identifiable mistake.
Phil Jagielka - 5/10
Yet another donkey, but worth an extra half for saving a definite goal by Balotelli after Joe Hart fucked up.
Ross Barklay - 5/10
Given just half an hour on the pitch, he had limited chances to do that much, especially with Rooney taking the ball off him to waste it.
Jack Wilshere - 2/10
He came on with twenty minutes to go and contributed precisely fuck all.
Adam Lallana - 5/10
Given just ten minutes, there was nothing he could do, but he showed willing, ran a lot, and suggested he'd have been deserving of more time. He did double what Wilshere did in half the time.
Phil Neville - 0.5/10
Dire commentary, and the half point is awarded to recognise the periods of silence that he blessed us with.
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