Praise the Lord...an Erikkson substitution works

[TightEnd]

A poor performance and not v encouraging at all but


the Lennon sub for Carragher was inspired...Beckham got a load of space when pushed towards right back and that space led to the cross for the first goal

I also feel Rooney and Crouch will be the pairing up top and Owen will be dropped...seems to be taking an age to reach match sharpness whereas I feel Rooney won't take long at all


Job done, but nowhere near good enough, clearly.

[Tonji]

well I hope England are slowly finding some form & working their way into the Tournament. The last 20 minutes was more hopeful when they used their pace wide. Defence still suprisingly shaky at times. Until they face quality opposition big questions still remain.

[Rooky9]

Truely aweful, throughly disappointed.....

I think he will drop Owen but i know which I'd want out there between Owen and Crouch if my life depended on it... and he wouldn't be over 6 foot tall. A crucial Crouch header granted, but it papered over a few clear poor decisions with the opportunity to create a goal, and that missed chance too.

[NoflopsHomer]

To be fair, I'd have rather they taken Lampard off for Rooney.


England were awful.

[Rooky9]

Lennon changed the game but he took off Cole who was probably the best player to that point... he make a big sub for Sven but the proper choice would have been Lampard for Lennon. Fact is that I dont think he will or can,at this stage, change from that midfield four in that formation.

[The Baron]

Why the hell is Steve G forced to sit? Lampard was dire.

For the record I did like the substitutions. My star men were John Terry and Ashley Cole.

Owen to be dropped.

Job done but we need to pick it up soon, we have one more game before we NEED to be playing properly.

[AdamM]

second round it'll be owen and rooney up front. Crouch has done well but he'll be on the bench for the second phase. I hope Owen gets the full 90 on Tuesday with Crouch then Rooney and I'm sure we'll see him shine in the second partnership.
Lennon top draw sub. was running past people like they had their laces tied together. John Terry is playing very well and although Gerrard had the better game today, Lampard was far better in the first game. Both have got goals in them. But for the woodwork in the first game we could have been talking about Lampards wonder goal in an otherwise poor game, just like Brazils.  If Gerrard had scored tonights goal 60 minutes earlier it could have been a very different game. hopefuly in twenty years we'll be talking about winning the world cup dispite looking fairly ordinary in the group stages.

for me that's it, not BAD, just ORDINARY.

[The Baron]

Agreed Adam but when Gerrard is not forced to sit he is devistating.

[AdamM]

as is Lampard. both are fantastic attacking midfeilders. the key was, would they be able to alternate their runs. they are finally developing a good relationship where they aren't both over commited at any one time. as long as one of them is watching for the break and Terry and Ferdinand are both playing well, the other can get up and make it happen. I think they'll both benefit from Rooneys return as much, if not more than Owen. Gerrard talked about this in interview in the friendlies when he was playing in Rooneys role. he admited that he and Lampard hadn't always worked well together but were aware of the problem and were working on it.

[ifm]

Lennon is the man, no question, he was awesome but he took Cole off? why? he had the right back in bits.
As for the crouch/rooney thing behave yourself man, crouch isn't in the same league as Owen and you know it!!!

[The Baron]

as is Lampard. both are fantastic attacking midfeilders. the key was, would they be able to alternate their runs. they are finally developing a good relationship where they aren't both over commited at any one time. as long as one of them is watching for the break and Terry and Ferdinand are both playing well, the other can get up and make it happen. I think they'll both benefit from Rooneys return as much, if not more than Owen. Gerrard talked about this in interview in the friendlies when he was playing in Rooneys role. he admited that he and Lampard hadn't always worked well together but were aware of the problem and were working on it.

Yes but they aren't alternating runs. Gerrrard, the finest midfielder in the world, is playing a holding role to accomodate the underperforming Lampard.