I watched part of the match and it was one of the most boring friendlies. Very slow game and the same big ball which they didn't get to make the most out of, as usual. Lots of work to be done.
They had jagielka out there too, and he's not on the 23 man roster headed to 2012. It's better to not have their players injured before the tournament starts!
Green is an excellent ´keeper. Not as good as Hart but easily England´s 2nd best ´keeper. He has a reputation as an error prone ´keeper. Yet that is all because of 1 ONE mistake against the USA. Admitedly it was an awful mistake, but I´ve never seen him make another like that since he´s been at west ham in 6 years. I think Capello was partly responsible for Green´s poor performance against the USA by not picking his 1st choice until minutes before the game. Green had an excellent season with West Ham and without him we probably wouldn´t have made the play offs
Wtf is hodgson doing? Downing shouldn't even make the list of 22.... He might do well against minnows.... But against stronger opposition he's gonna' fade out.... You won't even find him with a gps.... Why is kelly in the team? Why not richards? .... And henderson.... Even liverpool fans would admit he's a waste.... Half the liverpool team is in the squad.... I don't know why.... Good thing is england have decent fullbacks.... Baines or cole.... And jones or johnson...
Damn, I thought Richards made the squad! The guy is a really good player, and is better than Glen Johnson.
As for Downing, he is only in their because he has started the last few games for England and other than Ashley Young, he has more assists for England than other players in the squad. That being said though, he should be there on merit of his league form, which is nothing short of a disgrace. £16-£20m and no assists and no goals. Don't say he was unlucky because he hit the post 5 times, it doesn't make up for the fact he sucked this season
1. Thank god for ashley cole, I think along with rooney and maybe walcott he's a player with real 'touch' and skill lacking in many england players 2. I always wonder who england play for, as in, if you watch any team play they have a strategy to get a goal and usually a man who the team works for and comes through, ex: barca have possession+messi, Man UTD quick passes/wing play+rooney, arsenal passing+van persie, germany fast movement+klose, etc etc. Every great team have it, but when england play, its as if the guys don't even know each other and the coach tells them "go out and play" I just think they need to figure how and who(rooney ) they want to score for them and work for that, and then throughout the course of the game a guy like gerard can blast one home
Not sure how Gerrard got away without a yellow card, he went in hard, took out the man, and didn't get the ball. Hopefully when England are full strength (have Rooney and a couple players from the Blues back) they'll look better. Didn't look good at all in this match
I agree with you Vika09, I was applauding that tackle as soon as he made it. But in today's world, they trying to over protect the players and if he made that tackle in the Euros, he could get booked, even worse sent off. Just better to stay on your feet, especially since the Norwegian player is in his own half
With the presence of Gerrard, England was well in control of the game. England needs one or two committed players like him to perform at big levels. Hope Gerrard can lift England to victory in the coming Games
Why Hazard when Valencia is there? When he's in full form he's very difficult to contain on the right hand side. Nani can play on the left, while Young can be played in the whole behind the golden boy
They chose not to play him because he is suspended for the first two games at the Euros, so they trying to see how Carroll up front; hopefully Welbeck gets fit