I don't think his work rate can ever be questioned, he always puts in a good shift even when the game isn't going his way.
Job done. 2-1 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate. Well done Gareth Southgate, definitely a step up from Stuart Pearce at this level.
That was a very comfortable performance, for the most part. Sloppy goal conceded, but very few chances given away apart from that. This is a level that England should be taking very seriously and it would be nice to see Southgate being given a run at this level and also involved with the main squad. Consistency and stability are very healthy things for a national setup. Butland didn't do anything massively wrong, but he doesn't look at all sharp. Hasn't played much this season and was at a club in turmoil for a lot of the last one. Might need a loan to a club that'll push him on. Maybe even a permanent move.
Carroll looked good again, cool on the ball and able to make a number of key passes, some from long range. I actually couldn't see my low res feed well enough/wasn't watching closely enough to gauge very well how Dier did, or if he was at fault for the goal (my feed froze actually). He did seem to be active, as usual.
England, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Denmark and Serbia are through so far, with the final side putting Spain out in Cadiz 2-1, having drawn the home leg 0-0. Portugal beat the Netherlands 5-4 on the night after a 2-0 away win, though Michael Oliver reffed it, so I'm sure it was controversial. Sweden's attempt to overturn France's 2-0 home win in the first leg has got off to a flying start, as they've got a goal back after 3 minutes.
John O'Shea marks his 100th cap for Ireland by equalising against Germany with the last kick of the game. Terrible international break for the World Champions and they're currently 4th in the group.
Germany were a bit stretched with injuries - Ginter and Bellarabi in the team (yes, you may well ask)
It's a shame that they didn't have about 75m more people available to select from than their opponents, then. Oh, wait...
France U21s were eliminated by Sweden in the final qualifier, as the hosts came back from a 2-0 first leg deficit, winning the second leg 4-1. They join England, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Denmark and Serbia in the Czech Republic, who automatically get a place. The games will be played in June and two of the venues are in Prague, so anyone looking for an excuse to go there has one now. Sort of.
Southgate's post-match talk with the U21 players: [video=youtube;GcFNNAQ7hJQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcFNNAQ7hJQ[/video] Not sure that should be filmed, really. Seems a bit intrusive and unnecessary, but I guess that's the way things go. Well done to the man, though. Won all but one game, which was a draw, played some decent football and didn't rely on old school tactics or pace and brawn. Hope he's given the players to go and give it a go in the summer. Wonder who'll buy Will Hughes in the summer? Might stay if Derby get promoted, I guess.
As a fan of calling things by their proper names, I object to those calling the Albanian quad copter escapade "terrorist." Nobody was badly frightened, let alone terrified, by a small quadcopter pulling a flag.
Butland has now joined Derby on loan for a month, as their first choice goalkeeper was injured during their win over Forest on the weekend. Should do him good, though he might want to try and extend it for the rest of the season, if he can keep his place in the side.
Vertonghen got 90 minutes, Dembele got 45 minutes, and Chadli got a nice view of the entire match from the bench. Remind me, why were people tipping Belgium to be dark horses in the World Cup?
Because a lot of people play FIFA. Here's some footage of Hugo Lloris in training with France, if anyone is interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixqpeiJZSMk
Either we have a huge cockerel at Spurs Lodge, or Yedlin is tiny please log in to view this image ...or hoever runs the US footie team's Twattle is terrible at Photoshop.
If you have access to BT Sport you'll be able to watch Carroll, Kane and Pritchard hopefully feature for England U21s against Portugal in a friendly from half 7 this evening, 7:45 kickoff. Dier withdrew from the squad, and when you see the reason why I hope people agree that he's actually shown some good maturity for a young man. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...reth-Southgate-excluded-England-21-squad.html Townsend has withdrawn from the senior squad too, I think due to an ankle injury.
He wants to improve being a central defender by staying with SPURS? Is he nuts? I think he should go off to the U21 for exactly that reason
