I went to Wembley to watch England play Hungary in an international friendly this week. The F.A. had reduced ticket prices for this friendly, possibly as an apology for the dire showing during the World Cup. However, this reduction occurred after I'd bought my ticket though meaning I spent £30 to watch the game, £10 over the odds. The seats were in row 16 near one of the corner flags so at least I had a good view, even if it was a good view of a poor game. I'm not going to say much about the actual game because you either watched it or can read match reports elsewhere. What I will say is that for the first hour it was a terrible game. Don't believe the 'England make amends' headlines on some sites. They didn't. The game did perk up eventually with some of the substitutions but I'll go into that in a second.
The other thing I would like to mention is booing England players. There has been some condemnation of fans paying their money and then booing the team. I disagree with this, one pays ones money and is entitled to an opinion. I do think that booing the team doesn't help and I refused to participate, making an exception for two players only (J.T. and Rooney; both arrogant tossers in my humble opinion). At least the Hungary fans looked like they had fun.
What I thought I would do for this post is to give my assessment on the players that played a part in the game and then to come up with a line-up that, in my opinion, should start against Bulgaria in a couple of weeks. We'll start at the back and work forwards then...
Joe Hart: looked assured at the back and surely has to be England's first choice 'keeper. One of my mates suggested giving him the number one and telling him it's his for ten years. I think he might be right.
Glen Johnson: did a reasonable job at the World Cup. Good going forwards, not so good defending but I like him at the back and he is fairly consistent. He could do with taking a controlling touch every now and then rather than going first time with crosses.
Phil Jagielka: if he can stay fit he should be competing with Ferdinand for a first-team place.
John Terry: played all right in this game but in general is a bit slow and makes mistakes. He makes far too many last ditch tackles where a better defender wouldn't have to. Needs to be dropped for me. Replaced by Michael Dawson who played well other than the mistake for the goal. Dawson would be in my starting line-up over Terry.
Ashley Cole: much as it pains me to say it I think Cole was one of our players of the World Cup (not like that is saying much) and he is consistently one of the best left-backs in the world. Replaced by Kieran Gibbs who looked every bit the international player. Close to being my breakthrough player of the night.
Gareth Barry: poor game and gave the ball away too often. Could be a candidate for dropping; I'm not sure who I'd replace him with, possibly Michael Carrick.
Frank Lampard: I have to say I wasn't aware Lampard was on the pitch until I read a post-game match report. Poor player at international level, can't play with Gerrard and is completely anonymous far too often. Drop him and drop him quick. Replaced by Bobby Zamora. My breakthrough player of the night. Held the ball up brilliantly and will score goals. I'd play him over Rooney any day of the week.
Theo Walcott: played some great stuff down the wing, just needs a better quality final ball to make the shirt his own. Replaced by Ashley Young who similarly did a good job. I think Walcott just shades it over Young for me.
Steven Gerrard: consistently pulls the England team's arse out of the fire, nuff said. Replaced by Jack Wilshere. Eight minutes is not enough time to judge a player's quality, Fabio.
Adam Johnson: showed some creativity to get into useful positions but the final delivery was poor. I expected better. A few more caps might sort that out though.
Wayne Rooney: form is temporary, class is permanent. Unfortunately Rooney's serious lack of form is overwhelming his class. Playing in a team which doesn't give him the support he gets at Man Utd his frustration takes over. The guy has an attitude problem and his inclusion in the team clearly isn't working. It is unsurprising that we looked a much better team when he left the pitch to be replaced by James Milner. Coincidence? I think not.
So my line-up for the Bulgaria game:
G.K. Hart
R.B. G.Johnson C.B. Dawson C.B. Jagielka L.B. A.Cole
R.M. A.Johnson C.M. Milner C.M. Barry L.M. Walcott
C.M. Gerrard
C.F. Zamora
It's just an opinion and I'd like to hear your thoughts and comments, agree or disagree.
