Belarus 1 - 3 England

[Antony Moxey]

As I said, I'm sure Capello teams are picked on a horses for courses basis. There are other England midfielders that will be called upon if needed.

 

[CITY CASUAL]

Who cares what the team is.We are winning.Yeahhhhhhh properrrrrrr [england]

 

[Gozzer]

Two great goals from Rooney, particularly the second one. Things are looking up all round for England. Glad to see it hadn't gone to their heads. Capello seems to be doing a good job keeping their feet on the ground.

Just makes me wonder how the hell MacLaren got appointed.

 

[Jason H]

On the whole Gerrard thing - cracking goal, but that was just about it.

Several times in the first half I wondered if he was even on the pitch. Countless times we had the ball in the inside left channel, but there was no support down the outside. Remind me where Gerrard was supposed to be playing again?

And that miss near the end - when he took the ball off Rooney in the first place - was laughable.

Ah well, when all is said and done, it was a clinical display against a decent Belarus side (one that has beaten Holland and drawn with Germany and Argentina), save for the time between our opener and their equaliser. 4 out of 4, good start.

EDIT: Oh, and to echo Gozzer, that 2nd from Rooney was magnificent.

 

[LOG]

On the whole Gerrard thing - cracking goal, but that was just about it.

Several times in the first half I wondered if he was even on the pitch. Countless times we had the ball in the inside left channel, but there was no support down the outside. Remind me where Gerrard was supposed to be playing again?.

Apparently, whilst being shown on the left wing in the pre-match formation, he had a right to roam. This meant that he spent little time there leaving Bridge to do all the work.

Meanwhile, left footed Gareth Barry is playing in the middle.

 

[Jason H]

No problem with Barry in the middle, he has done well.

Free roaming or not, doesn't mean you should disappear completely when play is building up roughly where you should be.

 

[Poultice]

No problem with Barry in the middle, he has done well.

Free roaming or not, doesn't mean you should disappear completely when play is building up roughly where you should be.

Make you right about Barry but then I like hard workers who keep it simple and can actually pass a ball, can't wait for Hargreaves to get fit.

The problem with Gerrard is the same as it has always been, he simply doesn't fit into a team. For every orgasmic 60 yarder you have to put up with ten giveaways, each wonder goal is matched by periods when you struggle to find him on the pitch. When he is hot he is without doubt one of the most talented players around, it just don't happen often in an England shirt.

 

[CREDYGRECIAN]

Gerrard was fantastic last night , Scored a fantastic goal and made another for Rooneys 2nd , thought he joined in well and certainly was one of englands best performers alongside Rooney and Heskey.

I thought Barry was poor , he doesnt break the play up as well a Hargreaves would and him alongside Gerrard for me would be Englands best central midfield with Joe Cole on the left with SWP/Walcott battling out for the right hand side...

Upson for me isnt international standard & IMO there are still question marks over David James handling at times...

but who cares played 4 won 4 & Capello has got the 3 Lions roaring again.

 

[Jason H]

I must look up "fantastic" in the dictionary, as I didn't think it meant "mediocre".

 

[CREDYGRECIAN]

I must look up "fantastic" in the dictionary, as I didn't think it meant "mediocre".

Mediocre ? sorry nope Jason , im biase of course but Gerrard had a really good game last night , linked superbly with Rooney our best two players by a country mile combining like that was a joy to watch.

The goal he scored was world class , the ability to side foot a ball at that pace and accuracy into the corner from that distance takes outstanding class , the lads got it and far more than the majority of players in the world let alone England.