Capello shows the Midas touch

Why do you lump Eriksson in with McLaren. I wouldn't call three successive QFs an 'under achievement' by England's standards. You must have been watching a different England team to me for the last 35 years?

Its Great to see England has players to fall back on and now it might make the 1st team fight for there places better.
Well done capello

Michael Carrick was absolutely magnificent. He was terrific all night didn't put one step wrong.How could Capello have left him out in various England squads when he was fit and playing week in week out For United. He has been United unsong hero this season when played. Carrick reads the game so well and plays simple football in the centre mid, this is what England needs.

Top performances from Downing, SWP, Agbonlahor and Matthew Upson.

Don't all get carried away again please, but you have to say we were really good last night.

Still just as we always dismiss any friendly defeat as meaningless, so this result and performance can not be the basis for another period of mindless optimism.

Lets though maintain the momentum. Cappello has definetly got us on the right track.

I haven't seen the match, but I am glad the friendly served its purpose eminently for England. It should give some food for thought to debaters who keep running down the very need for having friendlies. It gives the manager more confidence and options. It also gives immense opportunity to some peripheral talent that otherwise may not have got such an early look in. Most of all it would have put some of the snooty ones in their place who should now be able to find more fire in their innards to turn up for the country and not go looking for subterfuge to sabotage the manager.

I am glad to see England perform so well! Hopefully this can turn these farcical friendlies - where no-one bothers showing up - into genuine matches as the players who were always sure of a place will now not be and will need to prove themselves!

I am not, of course, suggesting England would be better without players such as Gerrard and Lampard, but let's hope this spells the beginning of the end of their big egos holding back the England team!

whats the big fuss about? we played against a bunch of kids!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

i think first and foremost what was different about tonight's performance is EFFORT. they were charging around for every ball, pressing and never letting the germans settle.

helps of course that there were none of the big shots strutting around the middle of the pitch, trying to look like they can own the game without even trying. this was honest, passionate football instead of the egotistical prancing i'm used to seeing. ability is irrelevant without the right attitude, but with that attitude ability can really show through, as downing and co. have proven tonight.

capello has worked wonders in some respects. i just wonder if he'll ever manage to work that magic on the biggest egos of the lot.

So now the so-called "Golden Generation" can be pensioned off and we just about have time to mould the youngsters into a super outfit for the W C Finals (by which time the GG will be almost geriatrics !).
.
Well done Capello - go for it.

JT should be renamed Mr. Commitment. No wonder Capello picked him for captaincy. That he so promptly absolved Scottie of letting in the German equiliser and shouldered the blame himself is the footprint of a good leader.

Im Portuguese having been living in England for over 8 years now,and i must say im well impressed with the English national team,in Capello England has a world class manager that has clear ideas and will no doubt take England to even better levels that they are already showing.Great show from the so called 2nd string England players they showed maturity and class so now there will be real competition for places which is a real bonus for the Country.No more Wags nosense the players can concentrate on what they suppose to do play football. Well done England and well done Capello

I would agree with all of this... apart from lumping Eriksson in with McClaren. I believe I'm right in saying Sven's management stats rank him second only to Capello!

We all knew you could do it Fabio. Admitedly it's come from an Italian man, but you have produced a touch of class. You have managed to bring players together from across english football. You've managed to create a strong team from something fragmented and confused. Englands squad now appears to be a team well worth watching even from a neutral point of view. I believe they can be a team that can pull of any kind of result. Could they have the depth of Brazil...... it will be interesting to watch over Cappello's era as manager.

Ericsson was a disaster for England: he played the big names irrespective of performance and McLaren only continued the same.

Quite right to lump the pair together.

Capello is totally unfazed by reputation or the press and he selects entirely on merit. Even the prima donnas have realised this.

Thus far, Capello is justifying his salary. This is good.

I hope the FA take this opportunity to get some English managers to worship at the feet of the great one. Maybe one day we can have an English manager who can lead us to glory.

My previous attempt to add to this blog has been blocked, presumably because I criticised BBC journos, it didn’t include any bad language or insults. Well here goes again leaving out the criticism of the BBC;

Good to see the fringe players take their chance. Competition for places in a representative team is very healthy and probably easier to manage than at club level.

I agree with #3, harsh on Eriksson. He achieved a better result than Capello beating Germany 1-5, and it was in a competitive match, not a friendly.

My point here was that this was a generalisation by the author of the blog. Hopefully that is not too strong for the moderators.

I would like to run an experiment where you bring together a group of football journalists and split them into two groups.

Group 1 – they watch the first 85 minutes of a game, then write their report. Hopefully there are some last minute incidents or goals.

Group 2 – they watch the entire game then write their match report as normal.

Comparing the reports would reveal, I suspect, that a last minute goal can unfairly taint the journos view of the whole game, and the ‘performance’ of some players. In some cases their ‘analysis’ just wouldn’t stand up. Repeating the experiment a number of times would probably result in some journos looking for a new way of making a living.

#3 You must have missed the recent Arsenal vs Man Utd game, Carrick was awful. Good to see he pulled his socks up for his country.

It's noticeable that all the best players were current or ex-West Ham players! What a suprise....

Technique = West Ham.

It makes a bit of a nonsense of the idea that England's lack of success in recent years has been due to the numbers of foreign players here especially in the PL. We have shown that we have strength in depth and it has really been about poor management. English players benefit from playing alongside some of the world's best week in week out. I agree with the view that Erikson's record was very good but maybe he had a too-laid back approach e.g. about the Wags and the celebrity stuff. At last we have a tough professional manager who is not a million miles away from Sir Alf Ramsey.

I've noticed that most messages are over optimistic!! but i have my own reservations, it was one of that silly insignificant freindly match so i would say its toooo early to get tooo excited about the future of england team,let us keep the our praise for later and let these players make winning as an habit and let them win some thing really meaningful, let these players concentrate on thier own game, dont spoil these prima donas with undeserved compliments which could force them to take thier eyes off the ball!!

I think Eriksson underachieved with the players he had at his disposal. The 2002 WC was there for the taking if he'd been more of an inspirational figure instead of bowing to the whims of the so-called big name players.

Definitely a big improvement, just lacked that cutting edge in front of goal a top striker gives you, but definitely on the right track.
I have slated Stuart Downing for every England game so far but last night was by far his best performance. Long may it continue.
Carson was a little hesitant for the goal but Terry should have dealt with it. As I defender myself you know that if there is any risk, get rid, Terry didn't.
We went back to the big hoofing game of old for a while and that is when Germany put pressure on us, ball on ground and pass it up the field.

A fine performance from Capello and the team. Downing was excellent and he and Bridge gave balance rarely seen on the England left.

Wright-Phillips was also exciting and offers so much more than the ageing legs of Beckham.

Scott Carson will never be England number one. His confidence is shot to pieces and maybe it is time to give Green a chance in the next friendly?

Good performance and this bodes well.

Comparing Capello to Midas isn't a good thing. Read up on what happens to him Phil.

Fatblokedownthewpub

I would like to conduct my own experiment and split people's comments into two groups: those that comment on the game and those that write utter tosh making a laughable attemp to discredit the blogger. I wonder which group you're in.

Good performance from England; Carrick was MoM. Hopefully these games will be taken more seriously now.

Capello has claimed back the England friendly and made a proper game of it. If that game had had all 6 changes (or more if allowed) would have ruined the whole match.

It was a great game to watch, especially as an england fan, and especially as a middlesbrough fan... Come on Downing!!

I thought ITV did well with the game... Shame on you beeb for giving these England games up.

Nice to see you back on song Phil with your usual dose of hyperbole. I will never understand how Sven gets accused of underachievement when he took a team in the top twenty in the world to successive quarter finals. Even the traditional powerhouses of Italy, France and Holland didn’t manage that over the past 8 years. Sentences such as "an era of under-achievement under McClaren and his predecessor Sven-Goran Eriksson" is jingoistic nonsense.

I've literally given up on England but I've got to give it to them, they played rather well yesterday!

Just the mere presence of these so called 'B' team players sitting on the sub benches should now be enough to motivate the normal first team players to up their commitment, attitude, work rate and performance.
They now know that Capello has options for every position on the park (except the goal keeper .. doh!).
Maybe not wholesale replacements in a NON friendly match but a threat to each position individually (if you understand).

First time I've watched a whole England game on TV and genuinely believed we would win rather than hang on desperately.

Well done all the players.

Eriksson was a fine manager until he allowed the big name players to dominate him and he was no longer his own man

This truly leaves me in a dilemma as I am a big Capello fan and certainly not an England fan and to then spend last night wanting England to win is a bit of a shocker for me

Oh well, hopefully I will get over it unlike old Terry Butcher

I agree with the first guy, England haven't under achieved. This is only a friendly, crying out loud. Even Ireland beat the Germans in Germany in a friendly then got hammered in qualifying by them. Delighted you feel you have something to celebrate, dissappointed I have to listen to you lot thinking you are going to win it again till 2010.

This performance explodes the myth that coaching achieves very little. Fabio Capello has taken a second string of players (with a couple of exceptions) and coached and encouraged them to play like a confident quality international side. What a brilliant manager. The F.A. certainly got the appointment right this time.

Phil !

I think your comparism of Eriksson with McClaren was grossly unfair.Eriksson single-handedly build the England national team from medocrity into stardom.

Agreed Eriksson may not have won any trophies for England, neither has Capello yet. Eriksson took England to the world cup only to lost to Brasil who became the winners of the competition.

Infact Eriksson sat so that Capello can walk: The mere fact that 60% of Capello's squad where discovered by Eriksson will attest to this. He first took Walcolt to the WC.Remember?

Ironically with this victory, Capello will be more confused knowing fully well that the regulars can not be left out in big competions; and there are others who clearly deserve their place in the squad who will sadly not make it. There is no way a Carrick will replace Lampard and the likes- making the selection of England squad more probematic. There are some players who deserved their places,there are others whose selection will be based on politics and their experience - Owen and Beckham.

All the same, congrats England !
You deserved it.

and this on a night where the Scots had nothing better to do than try and remind the English of 1986, well done our nothern friends!


This is the manager England have been waiting for, for the last ten years or more.

Tactical discipline and off-pitch discipline, treating internationals as a serious issue not an excuse for a beano and nous.

Not wanting to go over the top but this is needed, long may it continue!

I thought we did well under Eriksson with the exception of the 2006 World Cup. Despite reaching the Quarter Finals we were poor throughout and the squad he took with him baffled many.
Only taking 4 strikers 2 of which were not fit (Owen and Rooney) and one who was still a child (Walcott).
So extremely unfair to compare Erkisson to McLaren.

Anyway, after a shaky start to his management campaign Capello really seems to have them playing the way Capello teams do...pressing and chasing balls and a solid defence (apart from the madness of the Germany Goal).
Glen Johnson and Matthew Upson looked different players to past performances!
There were many other individual performances such as Agbonlahor, Carrick and Wright-Phillips.

He won't be afraid to drop big names when it comes to qualifying as he has already shown with Owen and Beckham excluded.
Gerrard, Lampard, Ferdinand and both Coles better pull their fingers out or they will find themselves on the bench.

Well done England!

Established stars? maybe they should be less complacent after seeing the passion and determination of the 3 lions shirt wearing England team - so often missing in the past.

Perhaps Fabio should think about leaving the 'stars' out more often.

You calling Eriksson an under achiever is a joke.

3 consecutive QFs is our most consistent ever run - he also had one of the best ever qualifying records as an england manager.

He took over when we were in the doldrums (remember Kevin Keegan...) and built a team that had some fantastic results:

Germany 1 England 5
Argentina 0 England 1

to name just a few.


So he got too cosy and relaxed with the players in the last WC, even then - we were only knocked out on pens...

Phil... you have a selective memory when it comes to Eriksson = obviously McLaren was a disaster...

Firslty - Well done England, the boys did good?! Nice to see that we have talented youngsters chomping at the bit to get in and play in the national team?!

Secondly - I dont know how long now or how many times ive said it, but last night i was proved right, in these so called 'meaningless friendlies', we should be playing the younger/fringe players who are eager to play and make a name and get themselves in the international frame, because at the end of the day we all know what the big stars can do and what the big names give us, but by putting the younger/fringe players in you know that you are going to get an actual game, rather than an exibition that the big names see it as, like we did last night?! A game that was full of commitment, passion, pride and energy?!

and sorry to say this but........

who was the one player who messd up, by taking it rather easy, the only real big name star Engalnd regular in the squad.....YES John Terry?! as he poss knows his place is safe?! I know he made up for it with the goal, which is nothing less than you'd expect from a man of his calibre and the Captain of the country, but it sould never of been needed as the Germans never threatend us?!
In Conclusion
More Fringe players who are up for it in the friendlies please Fabio and England will be exciting to watch again?! As proved last night!

and to the person who commented about the fact that we were playing the "German Kiddies", wernt the Germans also playing the England Kiddies.......seen as we only had 2 regulars, James and Terry, plus an only very recent England first teamer in Barry.
didnt Germany have Klose, Gomez, Podolski, Schweinstieger, Mertesacker, Lahm, all of whom were and are first teamers

very impressive display about time those villa wippets got their chance! dont normally comment but hearing someone say erikson was a disaster makes me laugh! he didnt lose 1 qualifier and the players had faith in him much the same as they do in capello, just because mcclaren tried/failed to emulate his teams shouldnt make people forget he actually got us believing we could win a major tournament even though england simply didnt have the quality or experience to win, in south africa, if capello gets his squad right it could be different

Well done team and well done Capello. I must admit I had given up on Downing and was unconvinced by Upson. But good to see both rise to the occasion.

What I think is great is that Capello has organised the team so well. They are playing like a team and with purpose and confidence. I think the criticism on Erikson is sometimes a bit harsh and cannot to compare to Maclaren who failed miserably. Erikson did manage a good record of results. We couldn´t get past 1/4´s but not many managers done better.

But now however we look like a real team with a strong manager pulling the strings and the performances out of everyone. I love watching him during the game. He is so passionate and furious when things aren´t happening right or players don´t do as he told. And its so good to see we have a "boss" to get these youngsters performing how they need to. And not some wet blanket writing notes in a little book when things go wrong. He is the best manager we have had in a long time. Maybe the FA finally did something right in getting him in. I wanted O´Neil but I´m very happy now...

We are still work in progress and until we win something lets never get carried away! But its much better watching England now. Keep it up everyone!

I don't think we should get carried away but I think we will win the World Cup and then retain it 4 years later and then again in England in 2018, allowing us to keep the trophy.
Also, I'm quite sure we will win the Euros quite easily, several times on the trot in fact, and become the greatest team of all time.
Please Gordon - give Capello citizenship and make him King.


Of course it could all go breasts upwards.

I hate being an England fan – not one single player can pass a ball, it’s so frustrating to watch when you see the likes of Xavi for Spain, just the way they shape when receiving a pass to create the space to play a quick short simple but effective pass to keep a move swiftly moving along is beyond of realms of possibility with any man born within the costal borders of this football inept kingdom doomed with failure….

Steven who? Frank Who? Michael who? David who? I wouldn't care if they never played again if England perform like that all the time.

You've had your day old-timers. Make way for the younger, hungrier and all-together better England team.

This game only proves that England have a promising future, if the players keep on improving.
Remember that the last time we beat the Germans, we turned out worse in the following years, while they have reached the final and semi final of world cups and the final of a Euro.

Keep on improving lads, thats all that we need

Just food for thought, but didn't last nights' game push forward an argument for bringing back International A and B team games?
A lot was to be learned from the 'Second String', so why not play B-team friendlies at the same time on a regular basis as well??

What happened to that notion that foreigners where the ones killing the English game?

I thought last night was a good performance, not amazing, but professional enough to get the job done.

I just would liked to have seen Ashley Young get 45 minutes on the left wing. Downing was poor and not for the first time, his bumbling runs resulted in poor crosses and his shots were either wide of the mark or weak.

Ashley has more pace, better technique when crossing and is an overall bigger threat than Downing.

Please Capello, give Ashley a decent run out.

Sorry, but rejuvenation of Wright-Philips?

Rubbish.

The man is too poor for England. He runs at players, granted, but he runs AT players, as in straight at them. Someone ought to tell him he can't defy physics and run through other people. His "control" of the ball is based on luck and his delivery is also on the poor side of completely useless. Three corners from the left last night, and not one got over the first defnder. He can't get it through his head that a cross needs to beat the first man. That's one of the first things they teach a winger at junior school, let alone international level. People like him because he's related to Ian Wright, but Shaun should be jettisoned ASAP. He had countless chances to deliver good balls into the box last night and did not take one.

Also, as a Villa fan I know that Agbonlahor does not have good enough finishing for international football. His pace is menacing, but that's about it.

I know this is critical, but Capello will know no to listen to the hype. Yes, Germany have been beaten in Berlin for the first time since 1973, but haven't they played internationals in Munich for 25 years or more. What a pointless statistic!

I can quite honestly say I've never seen 2 England Central Midfielders boss a game like last night in the way that Barry and Carrick did for many, many years. I hope this has solved the Lampard Vs Gerrard debate once and for all: Neither. Lampard and Gerrard have achieved nothing for England, they don't seem overly bothered about England and haven't even performed particulary well for England under Capello. As I've said, the sort of assured performance from Barry and Carrick had everything; tackling, passion, committment, awareness, mutual understanding to a degree I have never seen England with either Lampard or Gerrard. Barry and Carrick have to be first choice CM pairing from now on. How many chances have Gerrard and Lampard had to prove they can fail? hundreds. How many have Carrick and Barry had to prove themselves? One, and they took it.

Last nights performance showed that England don't need to rely on messers Rooney, Fredinand, Lampard and Gerrard anymore. Whilst they are all players of a high calibre we don't need to depend as heavily as we do. Please Capello leave them out of the next squad, i promise you they will turn up for every squad after that.
What a great leader JT is taking the blame for the goal, SD was fantastic down the left and showed the advantage of having a proper left winger in the side. It's about time we realised football is a team game and the more competition for places there are the better our chances of doing well in a big competition.

my England team

James
Johnson
Terry
Ferdinand
A.Cole
J.Cole
Carrick
Gerrard
Downing
Owen
Rooney

SUBS
Robinson
Upson
Brown
Bridge
Lampard
Wright-Phillips
Wallcott
Defoe
Crouch

What a performance! Brilliant! Almost faultless!

I refer, of course, to Fabio Capello's rapidly improving command of the English lingo, as demonstrated in a post-match interview. Already he is easier to understand than gaffers such as Fergie, 'arry 'oudini and Bleeper Kinnear. I await his first useage of "I'm over the moon" with eager anticipation.

score101 i don't even think we need to have A and B team matches because firstly if that was our B team for example we would play other B teams nowhere near the quality of the German side they faced last night. Also i just think its a case of in friendlies giving the fringe players a chance. He knows what the big hitters can do as it is.

First up can people please not praise Terry for accepting responsibility for the goal, it was HIS mistake NOT Carson's so why should Carson take any of the blame. It was nothing more than a clever PR stunt so that now everybody is saying Terry's a great captain for protecting Carson's (shame he didn't do that in the MATCH!). It's fantastic really nobody mentions that he messed up, he looks great and at the same time plants seeds in people's minds that it actually was Carson's fault and he's just taking the blame.

Overall a good game but one or two things I must mention.
1. Imagine how potent we would have been had SWP or Downing the ability to put a decent cross into the box at the end of all of their runs. SWP is guilty of this more than Downing but please when you get a corner let Barry take it as he can actually cross the ball SWP corners were atrocious.
2. Jermaine Defoe is USELESS, his goalscoring record at internationals is appalling, look at who he has scored against Poland, Andora, Trinidad & Tobago and Kazakhstan. Frankly I don't see what he brings to the team, Rooney hits the ball better and Agbonlahor is far faster.

But that's enough of the negatives for me the biggest positives were:
1.No Lampard OR Gerrard. My word what a difference, our midfield actually moved the ball forward with pace rather than passing it backwards and forwards looking for the chance to punt a 40 yard "movie" pass to no-one. So well done Carrick and Barry.
2. Agbonlahor. Lightning fast pace and as he has shown at Villa this season can really strike the ball well.
3. Downing. While I criticised his crossing a lot of the time having someone on the left who actually stuck to the wing opened up space in the center. This is why Gerrard should Never play left wing.
4. Johnson and Bridge. Looked solid all night and supported the attacks well.

This was the first England match I have enjoyed watching since Munich, well done to the lads, pure effort and entertainment.

The one thing that was glaring throughout though with this team was balance. Due to the absence of some, so called, key players, Fabio was able to go back to a traditional 4-4-2 system with left footed players on the left and right footed players on the right. The midfield looked very solid with a more simplistic way of playing the ball rather than constantly seeking the 25-30 yard crossfield punt.

For once, England looked like a compact, quality outfit that played as a team instead of waiting for individuals to impress individually.

And in reply to #7
Germanys kids were beaten by English kids!

number 18 - i dont think it is fair to say that "all" the best players last night were current or ex West Ham players. I count 4 of the starting 11 - and Carrick i think has improved immensely since leaving WestHam, especially since joining Man Utd.

Also i suspect Charlton fans would take most credit for Defoe, before you stole him off them.........

You can see that Fabello has faith in the youngsters and NOT afraid to use them.
I can see a completely new team at the start of the next world cup with Walcott leading the way.

i love this blog - i bet most of the people on here were slating Eriksson when he was in charge, for many things, some of which you mention McNulty - picking unfit players, definitely showing favouritism (much more than the Dutchman McClaren) and generally allowing too much hype and hangers-on (WAGS) to surround the England players.

Now, as soon as you slate him a little bit they are all out defending him. I think sometimes you just cant win with these blogs........!!

How can you say that England under-achieved under Eriksson?

We reached THREE QF's. (WC 02 and 06 and Euro 04)

What do you expect?

That England have an automatic right to do better than that?

That kind of attitude means we ALWAYS underachieve. Poor journalism.

I see your point Rosey05, but can you think of a better way for Capello (or any other international manger) to see if and how players who are members of different league teams can actually play together? It would be good to know which combination of forwards to use in case of injury to Rooney, Owen, Heskey etc. The last thing you want in that scenario is to 'guess' which two forwards to play up front together to get the best results.

Having seen the teams on display last night this looked like Germany B vs England B.

So it takes the gloss off the result, i feel

Why no mention of the troubles with some supporters before the match? No wonder people think the hooliganism problem has been solved.

On a side note first (!) it's interesting all the naysayers going on about how people weren't interested in friendlies. It was a friendly, people have no money AND it was on terrestrial tv and still the pub I was in was pretty packed.

Anyway, it looked an enjoyable game, though lacking a little quality at times. The team looked comfortable with each other and mostly kept the ball well, though SWP continues to infuriate with his lack of vision.

Well done but only 6/10 I think.

The problem with Phil's verdict on Eriksson, like the majority of English press, is that it's based around a deluded fantasy that with a different manager we had good enough players to win the WC. All of which is of course complete nonsense.

John Terry, footballer, oxymoron? the shortcomings of the traditional english stopper were all too apparent again last night, its inconceivable that any other european defender would have tried so laughably to shepherd the ball back to his keeper under such circumstances, rather he would have controlled and played the ball away, finding a team mate to make an effective pass to. Terry is the lastest in a long line of clodhoppers in this position, think Adams, think Butcher and yet we continue to applaud their mock heroism for an ability to play up play up and play the game though bloodied and bowed. isnt it time we bred and encouraged a more skilful cultured breed of defender, one who is at ease and is comfortable on the ball and who's first and last resort is never the mindless hoof to the stands?

I thought it was a superb performance and there were a few key reasons why

1. Pace - our team was full of it, with SWP, Agbonlahor and later Bent and Young exceptionally quick, Downing, Johnson and Bridge aren't pedestrian either.

2. Workrate / commitment - Possibly because we had so many people trying to prove their worth, but it was top notch last night in terms of tracking back and hustling

3. Balance - it was great last night, the joy of having a left footed left back and a left footed left midfielder just gave us so much more. Actually not having wide midfielders out wide who'd spent the match cutting into the middle getting in the way of the centre midfielders and forwards made such a difference

4. Positional sense - part related to the above, but also Barry and Carrick did their jobs perfectly, both sitting in the midfield, winning balls, dictating play and always making themselves available for a pass, which meant the two strikers and 2 wide players could go forward whenever.

This German team was extremely poor. Virtually every pass they made was inaccurate, and every tackle a failure. This is a shadow of the famous German teams of the 1970s and 80s - German football seems to be in terminal decline. I don't see much fun in beating such a dire team.

It was a fantastic performance by everyone involved, capello gets each individual player doing what he is good at .
downing n wright-phillips were excellent both going forward n back especially.
carrick n barry dominted midifield, it was an injustice that Germany scored luckilyit dint matter, lets b honest there's no friendlies between ENGLAND & GERMANY!

Terry must b praised for taking the blame both him n Upson gave a strong display at the back, Upson really did look on his game he was dominant, that was great in the first half when Terry was on the floor n tackled someone with his HEAD!
I think he did an excellent captains job, both before the game in the game and after, and luckily managed to redeem himself which im delighted for us and terry that he did, cos in would of bin an injustice if we dint win that game 4-1 would of been a fairer reflection.

its easy to critisise when it goes wrong with England, its also great to praise, everyone of them played well last night, im delighted to of beaten the enemy friendly or no friendly its GERMANY!

Great performance by England - they controlled the game for huge periods and the passing + tackling was top quality. I still have reservations about Agbonlahor though - like someone else said, he can run at people, but his decision making isn't good enough at this level. Bent was unlucky - if you watch the replay you see he slips at the worst possible moment when he had the chance to put the ball into an open net. Still deserves a chance imo - certainly a better player than Gabby.
My pick for MotM was Downing - really impressive, and all down to Fabio's management skills. Also much deserved praise for Bridge - I still think he's our best left back even when Cole is fit - more disciplined in defence, less wasteful going forward. He needs to move somewhere to get regular 1st team football, wasted at Chelsea.

Hang on a sec - many of us have been bleating for ages that Capello should try Gabby, ashley young, Carrick et all - this is the first time in a number of frustrating games (from that point of view) and he only did it because most regulars got injured

I'm not yet convinced Capello picks solely on merit, I'm not slagging him off as a manager but given the chance we still would've seen Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham, joe cole and Rooney on that pitch - we've been asking for the likes of Young and Bullard all year, and he's only put them in the squad through withdrawals I feel

I think "underachievement" is the wrong word to describe SGE's reign. On paper, the achievements look pretty good. However, the scorelines don't to justice to the miserable, frustrating performances that generated them. I actually stopped watching England under SGE, because even when we won, the victories seemed empty. Under McClaren I watched a single match before realising that he was taking it downhill.

Capello has finally got some of the England players to sparkle again. That alone is worth a thousand flukey, injury-time winners and a million scrappy draws.

Fine performance England in all departments save one - Scott Carson. I fail to see the justification for his selection in the squad. Two enormous howlers. What does Robert Green have to do? Currently best English goalkeeper in the league.
A great pity about some of the negative comments posted. Would they have rather England lost to justify their prejudices? Terry and Upson magnificent. Terry a real leader. Downing a vast improvement and Carrick superb. Not a fan of SWP but he too was up there.

One goal foul on the keeper and one goal offside. Congratulations!

Very impressed with Carrick last night, hopefully Capello can now see what us United fans have for a while.

I also feel sorry for Carson, yes it was mainly Terry's fault (credit for holding his hands up) but his confidence must be shot. Time for Kirkland I think.

Also disappointed that Young didn't get a longer run out, whilst Downing was better than usual I didn't think SWP really did a lot

McNulty is a one man cliche machine! If there was ever a writer whose opinion is swayed in an instant it is McNulty!

williewandsworth wrote:

John Terry, footballer, oxymoron? the shortcomings of the traditional english stopper were all too apparent again last night, its inconceivable that any other european defender would have tried so laughably to shepherd the ball back to his keeper under such circumstances, rather he would have controlled and played the ball away, finding a team mate to make an effective pass to. Terry is the lastest in a long line of clodhoppers in this position, think Adams, think Butcher and yet we continue to applaud their mock heroism for an ability to play up play up and play the game though bloodied and bowed. isnt it time we bred and encouraged a more skilful cultured breed of defender, one who is at ease and is comfortable on the ball and who's first and last resort is never the mindless hoof to the stands?
------------------------------------------------------
Absolute kack! Perhaps you should try watching Terry with the ball rather than basing your entire opinion on one error, an error where it isn't actually conclusive as to whose fault it is! For all Terry's apologies after the match, I think it's clear that at Chelsea that ball would be picked up by the better keeper's that are Cech and Cudicini.

royalalbertdock wrote:

A great pity about some of the negative comments posted. Would they have rather England lost to justify their prejudices?
---------------------------------------------------------
It does seem that way with some people and I think it is rather sad.

You get the impression that even if England won the world cup, there would be some that would say 'yes, but....'.

England have a good solid squad now, under Capello, as they have belief that they can go to places like Germany and win. With McLaren, they would have probably lost.

I cannot believe the comments made by 47. I have never been a fan of Downing but I thought his performance last night was excellent. Not only was he a threat going forward he chased back and performed his defensive duties excellently.
As to 50 how can you leave Barry out of the squad? Since his return to the England team he has been the most consistent performer. He does the simple things right. He has proved he can play alongside Gerrard, Lampard and now Carrick. He and Carrick ran midfield especially in the first half and Barry would be one of the first names on my team sheet.
I thought the full backs were very good last night and would pick Bridge over Cole all of the time. Central defence was solid except for the one mistake by Terry for the goal. Midfield was excellent. I have to agree about Wright Phillips however. His crossing is very weak and he does tend to run at people instead of round them. Agbonlahor had a satisfactory game but I wonder if he is an international striker. Having said that he was no worse than Defoe nor Bent.

I agree that the likes of Cech may well have collected the ball, however we could all see Carson was hesitating and I still think that Terry should have called rank and just cleared it.

Glad to see the win and some very decent performances by the 2nd stringers.
I was really impressed with the midfield especially Carrick, who played to his strengths and has obviously benefited from Capello's straight talk as have most of the youngsters on show.
It will be interesting to see Capello's 'best' X1, I think Lampard and Gerrard will need to get used to the subs bench.... Lampard because he isn't good enough and Gerrard because he always puts club before Country.
I don't see Owen or Beckham in the picture now, but DB might get another cap to equal Charlton's record, so be it.!
There will be more' B' team fixtures and I think the England boys will beat most opposition in the world with Capello in charge.
Well done England.

I thought it was a fine performance from England, they are just so different to watch from the hoofers of the last 10 years, very refreshing.

However, as good as it was I don't think it will change the first team much, just gives Capello more options when players suffer injuries and/or loss of form. The only possible recriminations for the first team are for Wes Brown and Joe Cole, who could be replaced by Johnson and, I can't believe I'm about to say it, Downing respectively.

Ferdinand and A Cole will come back in, as will Lampard, Rooney and Heskey. Agbonlahor and Defoe played well and are able deputies but Rooney and Heskey have forged an excellent partnership and will be first choice for 2010.

What I think this game proved again is that Gerrard shouldn't start for England - he just doesn't fit in with Fabio's preferred system of 4-4-2 with 2 CMs and 2 wide players. For Gerrard to fit in you'd probably need to drop Lampard and Rooney as we would have to line up 4-2-3-1 with Gerrard in the middle of the 3. Rooney hasn't looked the same player when stuck on the left - this system doesn't play to his strengths. For all those calling for Gerrard to start, just take heed it means dropping Lampard and probably Rooney (or playing him out of position) to work.

For me the team is as per our qualifiers:

James
Johnson - Terry - Ferdinand - A Cole
Walcott - Lampard - Barry - J Cole
Heskey - Rooney

Carrick is fighting for Barry's place (and would come in for Lampard if unfit) and Downing/Young for Joe Cole's.

A great performance, and proof we have some strength in depth, but no real recriminations for the first XI.

"... an era of under-achievement under McClaren and his predecessor Sven-Goran Eriksson."

McClaren yes, but Eriksson? nonsense.


Is Carlo Cudicini eligible to play for England yet?

I'm not sure I understand so many people's defence of Eriksson.

The argument seems to go that he took an underperforming team and turned it into a world cup QF regular.

And that this is somehow a success.

Wrong.

He certainly took over an underperforming team. However, he also took over a team which included world class players, and the fact that he failed to mould them into anything better than "QF regulars" is firm proof of his shambolic inability.

Furthermore, the fact that these players were world class was nothing to do with Eriksson - they were made world class by their clubs, not their country.

Frodo_MUFC wrote:

I agree that the likes of Cech may well have collected the ball, however we could all see Carson was hesitating and I still think that Terry should have called rank and just cleared it.
---------------------------------------------------------
Agreed, Terry's actual error was one of judgement in that he assumed that Carson would get there rather than just putting his foot through it, which he could have done.

I wasn't suprised in the slightest last night. The most interesting freindly since Argentina a few years back, and shows that these fixtures have a genuine purpose. Whilst so many doom mongers have been whinging about our apparent lack of depth, I have always maintained we have as much back up talent as any country. The fact that these 'fringe' players play week in week out in the strongest league on the planet must stand for something. I find it incredible that people are trying to deflate this victory - far too much negative feeling still towards the national team.

What a great result!

But Germany were poor.
Were they poor because England were good? If so, congratulations!

There's no substitute for pace, (ok Bent fell over....) but Agbonlahor, Wright Phillips and Walcott (when fit) should always be in the squad.

James still looks shaky.

Perhaps 25 should be the age limit?!

Not sure if some of you watched the match last night (NikosBg is a well known England hater so his bilge can be ignored - read the F1 606 blogs) as many comments don't reflect the game that I saw.

Apart from a short spell after the ridiculous German goal (Terry's fault, but Carson could have saved the day) England played well balanced pass and move football and controlled the game against a German side missing 3 stars. Germany do not have weak teams ever.

Downing stepped up in class in a way I didn't think that he could, SWP was scaring the German defence with his runs, Abonghalor looked close to the real thing too. Carrick played better than I have ever seen him before, and Upson was the rock in defence that Terry and Ferdinand so often fail to be. Glen Johnson was also excellent, and I never thought I would say that when he plays for England.

To me the big thing was the way that we kept playing as a team after substitutions. We have so often lost our shape and our way when that has happened in the past.

The only player who didn't impress me was Ashley Young, but then he was only given a few minutes and probably tried too hard.

This doesn't mean we are world beaters, or anything else significant for that matter, it just means that I watched England without my heart in my mouth for the first time since Alf Ramsey.

Finally, I don't think that Peter Crouch should get a cap for coming on in the 3rd minute of added time. It is making it a joke. Perhaps a cap should only be awarded for playing a minimum of 20 minutes? Or add up the minutes and award a cap when it gets to 90??

When Carrick's on form he is the best holding player England possess. Unlike other contenders, he is bigger, better in the air, breaks oppoosition play up but, has that vital extra - he has vision and can pick and play killer passes. No other holding player has those attributes and for that reason should always play if fit and on form. Play one of Lamps or Gerrard (similar style players anyway) to bomb forward, Carick to hold and pick passes, Barry/Cole /Downing (last night's form only) on the left and either Theo/SWP/AN0 on the right. Balance.

NouManor wrote:

Is Carlo Cudicini eligible to play for England yet?
---------------------------------------------------------
I think yes, no and I'm not sure. Helpful that isn't it.

I think he became eligible in 2005. However, I think he then was on the bench for Italy for at least one game.

So, he would have got a cap, I think, but didn't necessarily appear.

Has that cleared it up for you?

Phil while every fan wants their country to win everything and is naturally is disappointed when they dont, it takes a real objective thinker to realise afterwards that perhaps their team wasnt as good as they thought. Objective thinking is something I really expect any journalist worth their salt to do, espacially one working for the BBC. Your comments about Sven belong to the Daily Mail. In 2002 England got narrowly beaten by the best team in the world, a team that featured Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho in their pomp. In 2004 you lost to a better Portugal team (collectively and player for player) . Just because you have a golden generation does not guarantee success as Portugal in football and New Zealand and Ireland in rugby shows. If you come up against another golden team or have a bad day then there is no point in blaming a coach for your players failings or misfortune (Seaman, Rooney etc). The World Cup does not belong to any nation (even Brazil) and I think you should just be thankful that you have won it once which is better than a lot of the traditional football powerhouses (Spain, Holland, Portugal) have managed.

It will be interesting to see Capello's 'best' X1, I think Lampard and Gerrard will need to get used to the subs bench.... Lampard because he isn't good enough and Gerrard because he always puts club before Country.
......................................................................
Of course the stand out Premiership midfield player of this season isn't good enough. I stopped reading your post after that nonsense madeiraman57.

#73 NikosBg - that sounds like a bitter Germans comment to me!!!

the German keeper jumped into Defoe when bumbling to get a left fist to the ball, defoe was on the 6yard line, not like he was standing on the keeper impeding him

the second goal was onside seen as there wasnt the so called all important "daylight" between the players, next u'll be saying it was a foul cause Terry got a better leap?!

I was glad to see how balanced the team looked yesterday.

Ignoring the Lampard/Gerrard dilema, Englands first choice Wingers under Mclaren and Eriksson weren't wingers, which gave us very little width.

SWP, Downing, Young, Walcott and Lennon really provide us with an extra dimension. Maybe their inclusion will allow Cappello to get the best out of the Lampard/Gerrard partnership.....?

Barry and Carrick were immense last night, and I think that a successful midfield really does hang on the inclusion of one of these at the expense of either Gerrard or Lampard. I think Hargreaves is actually the best candidate to fill in the DM berth, his defensive capabilites would really get he best out of Lamps or Gerrard.

Eriksson's underachievment was in creating an England team that was far less than the sum of its parts, a team that routinely fell into self-doubt and panic as soon as it was put under any pressure, and which lacked the sort of composure shown last night. McLaren inherited and reinforced a style and mindset that had manifested itself in three quarter finals (go a goal up, panic, defend deep, lose), in desperately lucky performances against so-called minnows in qualifying, and embarrassingly one-sided friendlies against the bigger nations (Holland, Spain). Munich was a freak result caused by a creaky German defence panicking at the sight of Michael Owen (who had just destroyed most of them in the Super Cup a few weeks before).
The most satisfying thing about England last night was their calmness, professionalism and self-belief - the very things that seemed to be sucked out of them by Eriksson and McClaren. Even if Germany had nicked the winner, I still would have had more reason for optimism about this England side than I ever had after watching Eriksson's England stumble to wins against teams ranked 50 place below them.

Phil

The moderators are getting slower and slower - can you have a word/slip some pro plus into their coffee?

thanks

PS On the Eriksson debate surely the answer is his reign was a 6/10 - did well to get to the QFs but ultimately found wanting. Could have done better. I'm not saying we have a divine right to win a tournament but you could look at his record and say "did excellently to get to the QFs" or "his record of getting past QFs was 0/3". For me he should have taken us to a semi, and possibly a final, at least once to be deemed a success.

Even allowing for the fact that this is a fairly poor German team, England deserve credit. The team played with great courage, zest and enterprise, and Agbonlahor and Wright-Phillips were particularly impressive.

Since Capello picks teams on merit, several of the players selected last night could displace better-known names, which could be no bad thing.

Best of all, Capello seems to be working to a solid long-term strategy - which makes him a much better manager than either McClaren OR Ericsson!

The Germay Goal

How can Terry be to Blame????

Who is the only one of the two players that can see the WHOLE PLAY???

NOTE: JT has his back to the player behind him.

There was clearly NO call from Carson telling him he had a man on. This is the 1st sign of a world class keeper - communication, talking to your back 4 at all times. as you are the only player that faces play for the entire 90 minutes.

Phil, good article, but you should be shifted from your position, at least slightly with Eriksson.

It was only this time last year that many in the press were declaring that England simply didn't have the players to warrant a regular place in major finals, despite Eriksson never failing to not only take us there, but progress to the Qtr final stage.

I predict increasingly deranged articles predicting that we'll win the whole competition in 2010. What's going to happen if we lose (probably on penalties) at the Qtr final stage then? I expect the press will conveniently ignore Eriksson's achievements but (rightly) laud the abilities of Capello.

Phil says England will always is measured against Germany. How many people do that? Most people would agree the England team needs and should be comparing themselves to the best in the world, that means Argentina or Brazil not this Germany team anyway.