England debrief, most and least impressed by

[sydney]

Rooney was shit tonight.......basically had the ball put on his head twice by stevie g and wasn't up to making half decent contact......gone rite off the ****.......parker tried his nutts off but final touch was champ level.....defence can take credit and hart.........stevie ran himself to a standstill but i think he is past it now..............hodgson's tactics appear to be defence, defend,defend a bit more and then we'll try some defence.........glad it's over , saves us getting bummed by the germans again....

 

[The Brighton Buzz]

Ashley Young proved he is not international class by playing crap in four games. Only got picked because he plays for Man utd. Rooney not fit and has not performed for England for over a year. Thought Milner played his best game tonight and although he should be nowhere near the starting line up still got subbed in front of Ashley Young. When Parker went off we lost the midfield and Jordan henderson touched the ball twice in the whole of the game after coming on. However, there are signs under Roy that we can play a decent style of football and players that came out of the tournament with credit are: Hart, Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Cole, Gerrard, Parker, Wellbeck and Carroll. Walcott flatters to deceive. Would like to have seen Oxlade chamberlain and Defoe given more of a chance. BUT it is all matter of opinions and I am sure that many on here will disagree.

 

[Tooting Gull]

I would rather have seen Downing start these games than Milner - and that is saying something.

The only English winners tonight were Jack Wilshere and Adam Johnson.

 

[GT49er]

I would have had Micah Richards at right back rather than Johnson - and this tournament has shown me how wrong I can be! Johnson was excellent, as were most of the defence, but I don't think Lescott is up to it; he never did anything when he won the ball - I only ever seem to remember him getting rid of it by passing square to Terry, as if he's got know idea what to do for himself.

Gerrard firmly answered the "Gerrard and Lampard together" question - the answer if a definate 'NO', and should have been implemented by England managers years ago instead of using daft ploys like playing Gerrard left midfield in order to accommodater Lampard in the centre.

Milner looked solid, and seemed to know what he was doing; Young looked exactly the opposite - Adam Johnson would have been far better option, but wasn't he injured(?). Walcott's still a bit lightweight. Carroll looked far more of a threat up front than Wellbeck, and scored our best goal of the tournament (I think Wellbeck's was a lucky fluke).

Plenty to be going on with - I thought by and large the boys (and Woy) done good

 

[Worthingite]

I think this tournament has proved it's time for a number of the players (I'm looking at you Mr's Milner, Terry and Gerrard) to step aside and admit their time is up. Rooney for me is a club player and nothing more. I don't understand all the outrage against Ashley Young, he has the ability to be a fantastic attacking option for England for years to come.

That said, I would LOVE for the FA to do what the DFB did 10 years ago (after the 1-5 mauling by us incidentally), and have a full re-assessment of what exactly an international player should be, and how to achieve that. It's no coincidence that since 2001 the Germans have got stronger and stronger and we.....er.....haven't.

 

[maybitch]

back 5 hold ur heads up high u did well. parker gerrard i thought had a gd tournament milner did was he was meant 2 do rooney could hav pulled something out the bag walcott and the ox should hav playd more and the least said about young the better overpaid and over-rated

 

[Potters mate]

Pirlo was sublime tonight. couldnt help thinking if only our own pirlo hadnt got fed up with playing left wing whilst stevie g and lamps sprinted forward in a straight line and smashed the ball over the bar continuosly for 4 years. Things could have been so different. Saying that, Scholes is crap at pens so prob would have lost it anyway!

 

[happypig]

Hart was OK and has plenty of time to mature.
Ashley Cole played well, but at 31 how much longer has he got ?
Glen Johnson did well and should get better.
John Terry was his usual solid self but like Cole he's getting on.
Joleon Lescott was OK but I wonder if he's flattered by playing alongside Terry.
Steven Gerrard showed just how good he is when played in position. 32 though...
Theo Walcott scored one, made another but didn't do a lot else. Might be good to see him start a few games.
Ashley Young didn't deliver what was expected. poor player in a mediocre team, get rid.
James Milner worked hard and put a few crosses in but didn't terrorise defences. maybe he'll improve.
Scott Parker not really sure, seemed to put himself about but didn't light any fires. I'd give him another chance though.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looked good but didn't get played enough to see whether he has more to offer. Definitely a future star.
Andy Carroll I just don't get, He's a one trick pony and if we're not putting the ball on his head regularly we might as well not play him.
Wayne Rooney struggled to keep up. I seriously wonder about his attitude but he can be quality. I'd have started Defoe and had Ronney come on when they were getting tired.
Danny Welbeck - One clever (or lucky) goal doesn't make him international class but he's young and might get better.

Roy Hodgson - had to do a lot in a short time after the Capello debacle. I think he has a lot to offer and could end up being an outstanding England manager.

Time for a clearout in preparation for Brazil in two years; Cole, Gerrard, Terry and Parker out and start building a team for the world cup.

 

[beorhthelm]

I don't understand all the outrage against Ashley Young, he has the ability to be a fantastic attacking option for England for years to come.

The outrage is that he has the ability but chose not to show it for four games.

 

[Seagull58]

Ashley Young should never be picked again. If you get picked you have a duty to at least try.
Caroll is an immobile donkey and when he plays Hart just lumps the ball up to him so, again, leave him out for good.
Rooney was absolutely shocking. It ws like a rerun of WC2010 when he forgot how to trap and pass the ball. Maybe he needs to be put on the bench for a few games.
Welbeck's goal was a fluke. He hasn't shown anything decent yet.
Hart is solid in goal but, please, stop hoofing it to the big man. The big man is shite, whoever plays there.
Glenn Johnson was the biggest positive; not half bad defensively and made a good fist of it going forward.

Hodgson did the best he could in a short time with that bunch of mediocre players; he made us hard to beat.

 

[fleet]

Keeper and back 4 all good. Gerard good. Sadly Young, Rooney, Milner and Welbeck were generally poor. Chamberlain looked good. Most shocking Carroll actually looked good and I was outraged when he was selected.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Heartening, was it not, to see an 18 year old Albion player (JFC) bemoaning the fact on Twitter that England simply couldn't keep the ball and that possession was the key? If he can spot that, why can't players like Gerrard?

Bodes well for the Albion, anyway. Teach them well, and let them lead the way

 

[Sussex Nomad]

On the bright side, no hangover going to work on Friday!

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Me too
Gerrard had a great tournement but was off the pace tonight

He was good in the first half and completely knackered after that.
I barely noticed Parker was playing all evening
Rooney clearly wan't match fit - way off the pace
Young - as much a I rate him normally - has been poor all tournament
Wellbeck didn't get much of a look in
Johnston did every he needed to in defence and went forward well - probably MoM
The rest of the defence was decent (yes, even Terry)

Over all completely outclassed after about half an hour - we could have lost by 5 quite easily. Did not deserve to win it. However, some promising points about it - but why we were so tired, so quickly is beyond me.

 

[Bwian]

Heartening, was it not, to see an 18 year old Albion player (JFC) bemoaning the fact on Twitter that England simply couldn't keep the ball and that possession was the key? If he can spot that, why can't players like Gerrard?

Bodes well for the Albion, anyway. Teach them well, and let them lead the way

Your using Gerrard as an example of not keeping possession is interesting, especially considering his passing and vision was amongst the most accurate and consistent. Your anti-Liverpool bias kicking in again?

 

[Eddiespearritt]

Terry (although an unpleasant human being) was tremendous, as were all of the back 5 last night. In front of them we appeared to have nothing of quality and real ability. Defending alone can never make a successful team and the challenge will be to harness creativity amongst the younger talent, such as England has to offer. We'll get the Sky / Premier League hype again soon enough, but it isn't making a national team to be proud of, and probably never will. Hopefully the Prmier League won't be encouraged to introduce the redundant extra officials which seems the most pointless of exercises.

 

[nwgull]

We'll probably get another tournament out of Ashley Cole and Rooney, who can surely never play that poorly for England again. Roy Hodgson has done well with a mediocre set of players and only 6 games, in which England are unbeaten apart from the penalties. It will be interesting to see what he can achieve in the next couple I years with a chance to implement some changes.