England V Belarus

[loz]

He has picked Gerrard!

And Upson!

It would appear playing crap doesn't matter when it comes to selection.

James, Brown, Bridge, Ferdinand, Upson, Lampard, Barry, Gerrard, Walcott, Rooney, Heskey.

[Lofty]

G*rr*rd scores. Goalkeeper should have had that. Commentators creaming themselves again.

[BlueBeard]

I had to do a double-take there mate, I thought you had James Brown in goal :D

[JT26CFC]

ugh just read it off sky, they're in love now. Hate him so much!!! come on Lamps!!

[loz]

Belarus just equalised. England's defence is a shambles

[Scott]

What a stunner from Stevie G !

[Nibs]

Rooney was great last night I have to say. That second goal he scored was class. Heskey did well too to be fair.

Didn't think any of the midfield were that good, but of course Stevie Me will get the top marks in the papers 'cos of the goal and the assist. Lamps was okay but it was a low key performance where he didn't really do anything that stood out. Thought Bridge had a steady game.

Can't knock Capello's record. We certainly look a lot more of a team than we did under that muppet McLaren.

Edited October 16, 2008 by Nibs

[loz]

I thought Bridge had a shocker in the first half but improved in the second half - lack of match fitness and sharpness were apparent and sadly his ongoing status as a back up player at Chelsea is not doing him any favours.

I thought Rooney and Heskey were the pick of the bunch.

[Nibs]

Think you're being a tad harsh on Bridge Loz, couldn't describe that as a shocker. He must be rusty with the little playing time he has had and with that in mind I thought he was pretty good throughout - especially as he did not get a great deal of help from the bloke who was supposed to be playing left midfield!!

Walcott did have a shocker though. He may live off that hat-trick for some time - just like John Barnes did with "that goal" against Brazil.

[Mr Chelsea]

rooney and heskey were great again last night

i think heskey is one player that seems to up his game for england

thought bridgey had a good game to

[dkw]

Think you're being a tad harsh on Bridge Loz, couldn't describe that as a shocker. He must be rusty with the little playing time he has had and with that in mind I thought he was pretty good throughout - especially as he did not get a great deal of help from the bloke who was supposed to be playing left midfield!!

Walcott did have a shocker though. He may live off that hat-trick for some time - just like John Barnes did with "that goal" against Brazil.

walcott was garbage last night. gerrard was exactly what everyone says is his poblem, a superb goal then dissapeared for the rest of the 1st half. 2nd half lamps was the one sitting back to allow gerrard forward, which lamps did very well. i think capello did it that way as he doesnt trust gerrard to stay back and hold, whereas lamps has the discipline to do it.

[bar24rat]

Lamps was playing such a clearly defined support role in the second half that he had to be after a specific instuction from Capello. We saw none of the customary surges near the box, as a result it appeared that Lamps was having a poor game. One for the "boo boys club" to celebrate no doubt. If you look at the payer ratings on the BBC sports website, this is clearly shown by Lamps average of 6 against Gerrard's 7.5. One goal. a 2 yard miss using the wrong foot and one pass cover all the other blanks in Gerrard's overated overall contribution.

Bridge did reasonably well but the difference between his contribution and that of the absent Cole A in other games was shown when Rooney was waiting for Bridge to move forward into a clear space on the left. Rooney even seemed to tell Bridge to move up into the gap. Confidence and lack of top games was clear to see.

What team will be left v Boro-potential or definite absentees list is long: Cech,Bosinga,Terry,Cole.Cole,Deco,Cavalho,Drogba,Essien

[Lofty]

Lamps was playing such a clearly defined support role in the second half that he had to be after a specific instuction from Capello. We saw none of the customary surges near the box, as a result it appeared that Lamps was having a poor game. One for the "boo boys club" to celebrate no doubt. If you look at the payer ratings on the BBC sports website, this is clearly shown by Lamps average of 6 against Gerrard's 7.5. One goal. a 2 yard miss using the wrong foot and one pass cover all the other blanks in Gerrard's overated overall contribution.

This is how I saw it. Which is especially irritating when you consider that Frank was outstanding at the weekend. And yet he's apparently been shifted away from his natural position in order to accommodate that farcically overrated scouse git.

[geezer]

Fabio was pleased with Bridge which is what counts however he was made to look bad for the Belarus goal when the reality is Gerrard was at fault because rather than stay with the midfielder he opted to go with the overlapping player (twice) which left Bridgey in 2 minds as to who he should be covering. I also noticed a couple of papers this morning stating England were left exposed down the left flank whenever they lost the ball and Wayne had surged forward particularly in the first half. What they failed to point out was this was because Gerrard had gone on his usual walkabout (this is who they really named the Aussie bars after Loz).

2nd half was better because Fabio recognised this weakness and used Heskey wider left to cover this and oushed Gerrard into the middle to support Rooney whilst Frank stayed back to help Barry who had been constantly overpowered in the middle. Frank stabilised the middle totally in the 2nd half and broke up many attacks without really getting the recognition for it but that tends to be the case for midfielders who play this type of role but provides the foundation for the front players to perform far more effectively.

[loz]

Fault for the goal can be placed at the door of about four players. Gerrard for the reasons you say Geezer, Bridge for being mugged by the dummy, Brown (was it Brown) for inexplicably ducking under the cross despite being yards from the goal line and Walcott who appeared to have entirely lost his man.

Maybe I was a tad harsh on bridge and 'shocker' was a bit strong but I do think he was poor in the first half. His positioning was all over the place however he (as well as the entire team) improved considerably after the break.

[geezer]

Fault for the goal can be placed at the door of about four players.

Nah, I blame Kenyon........

[Dubzz 6]

Anyone see the wales game? We didn't deserve that! Bring on Finland..

[Maksimov]

Bring on Finland

We totally deserved to lose against Russia, but bring on Wales!!! :D