Agreed with everything said. These players will do a job for you against the likes of Moldova but against a decent attacking side there's no one out there to really take control of the game and perform regardless of the players around them. We're relying on their defensive naivity and them commiting forward most of the time and as for Johnson, I've no idea how he gets picked above Richards and Walker. Been saying this for awhile. He'll coast along alright in a team that's dominating but I think he'll come up very short at United when it comes to really replacing Scholes or Carrick. On the plus side for Spurs fans, Bale has scored a Ronaldo like freekick according to the Beeb. Looks like Vermaelen and Sigurdsson won't just be playing rock, paper scissors between themselves when we get a set-piece near goal.
So did Anderson, which tells you something about the lack of quality we had in centre midfield that day. I know he's young but I've not seen anything special from him and it's beyond belief that we've now got him starting games for England.
The scary thing is that Milner seems to be the most likely to create something. Johnson doesnt seem to want to beat a man or put a ball in. At least Milner tries.
Johnson's a bloody RB lest we forget! Baines a pile of ****e in comparison on the other side. Johnson, a defender, is looking the most likely to score at this rate. majority are a bunch of headless chickens, but then that's Woy's style.
Well done Gerrard Atleast you don't have to have him wasted in the next pointless England game, Sir Red.
I agree that Johnson has done ok and found himself in good positions (at least going forward) but when getting in those positions he doesnt seem to know what to do. His best bet seems to be just having a dig.
Just seen Welbeck's dive, the commentators owe the ref an apology! Townsend's such a tool, Lampard man of the match? Scary.
The Welbeck dive will be swept under the carpet. ****ing joke. And how many bloody divers do United have now?
Lamplard Man of the Match!?!?!?!? I didn't even notice him until he stepped up for the penalty. And Johnson is a defender, yes, but a shocking one. He gets forward and then completely loses his bearings defensively. Doesn't even have the pace to get himself out of trouble. If he is International standard in England then we are really turning out some **** players.
It was a great 2 minutes of commentary....Welbeck didn't get the penalty 'cos he didn't go down and tried to stay on his feet' and then the Ukraine have an effort which Hart 'does really well to save' even though he didn't touch it! I think ITV are ****e with football....poor Brian Moore must be spinning in his grave
Let's not forget that Ukraine are no mugs. This is not Moldova mk2. They are serious opposition nowadays. It's a game that England could, and should, have won. Defoe's disallowed goal decision was ridiculous - far from the only piss-poor officiating of the evening. A combination of poor finishing and some bad luck also contributed.
With a referee on commission for yellow card waving and despite the comments and commentary it was good to see a fighting England performance towards the end. A disallowed Defoe goal that should have stood and a Ukraine side specialising in the hurt face acting school drama awards, hmm! I suppose we have to be thankful for a draw.
Gerrard and Johnson are now banned for an utterly pointless game against San Marino. I doubt they'll be missed and I also doubt they'll be particularly bothered to miss it, either.
No English player has ever dived. The Beeb live text described it as Welbeck "went to ground too easily". Why can't we just call a dive a dive? He had both feet in the air, with his body at an angle that he was never going to stay on his feet from and that's before the defender even made any contact, or rather before Welbeck kicked out his leg to make contact. ITV commentators were quick to criticise the ref for missing a stonewall penalty,(to be fair, I thought it was a pen too) only to get a bit sheepish when they see on the replays. And you know if we had been awarded it it would have been described as "soft" or something else that doesn't call out an England player for cheating.
Milner dived as well but Ukraine win the diving awards. Referees like this just encourage players to dive because he was suckered in time and again. The commentators just accept this as the norm.
Haha, yeah I thought I'd misheard them when they were talking about Hart's save and assumed they were talking about an England defender's "saving tackle" as it looked like it might've taken a deflection. Not even close to Hart
