World Cup qual - How England rated

Eurosport - Thu, 02 Apr 16:20:00 2009

We deliver the verdict on England's players in their 2-1 World Cup qualifying win against Ukraine.

2009 England-Ukraine Wayne Rooney - 0

David James 6/10 - Had a quiet night. Did not do much wrong, nor did he do much right. Was somewhat static for Andriy Shevchenko's goal.

Glen Johnson 6 - The Portsmouth man is lucky he is presently England's only viable option at right-back, as he did not have a great evening.

Rio Ferdinand 7 - A solid enough performance, certainly better than Matthew Upson's against Slovakia. Back trouble struck again late on.

John Terry 7 - It is hard to argue with a goal and an assist, but Terry was sloppy defensively and conceded the free-kick that led to the equaliser.

Ashley Cole 5 - Didn't have a Kazakhstan moment, but Cole risked the ire of the Wembley faithful with his carelessness in possession.

Aaron Lennon 6 - Injected much-needed pace into the midfield - although his final delivery is still a problem - and was taken off early in the second half.

Frank Lampard 6 - Put in a diligent and disciplined shift, but you can't help but wonder whether Michael Carrick might suit the deep-lying role better.

Gareth Barry 5 - There is a reason he has played England's last 20 games, but Barry looked distinctly laboured against Ukraine.

Steven Gerrard 7 - Combined superbly with Wayne Rooney in the first half and may have to man the dreaded left flank all the way to South Africa.

Wayne Rooney 8 - Far and away England's busiest and most creative player, but worked to his team's detriment as he tried to do too much late on.

Peter Crouch 7 - Would Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole or Darren Bent have scored that scissor-kick? Not likely. Rubbish celebration, though.

Manager - Fabio Capello 7 - This is a results business and Capello specialises in those. The absence of Michael Owen was highlighted when Wright-Phillips replaced Crouch late on.

Subs:

David Beckham 7 - Got his customary standing ovation and set up the winner, but England looked worryingly one-paced after Lennon's withdrawal.

Shaun Wright-Phillips - Made a useful, if limited, contribution.

Phil Jagielka - Committed a potentially costly foul in his brief cameo.

Alex Chick / Eurosport

Comment 44 - 63 of 63

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  1. sjoerdveer..
    No he has all of the passion and­ athleticism with average technique and vision, which he­ combines with an incredible workrate. Judging by the­ way you've described him, he must be the greatest­ player ever... because not even Pele, Maradonna etc.­ had so many great talents and attributes; but clearly­ he's not as he hasn't even been considered in­ that respect. Get your head out of your a$$.
    I'm­ done commenting on this, because some of you fail to­ see the obvious... we'll see by the end of 2012­ whether he has won any world player of the year or­ ballon d'or trophies, or even finished top 3 for­ that matter.
    Let the results and recordbooks do the­ talking.
    Case closed.

    From i am a teacup, on Thu 2 Apr 10:04PM

  2. I sad goobye to you Irve', not everyone. I'm­ off Because I think the editor is siding with you, and­ not publishing the true and free direction of dialogue,­ proffessional shame on him/her. For that reason­ Dragons... I'm out.

    From tom keegan, on Thu 2 Apr 9:39PM

  3. I sad goobye to you Irve', not everyone. I'm­ off Because I think the editor is siding with you, and­ not publishing the true and free direction of dialogue,­ proffessional shame on him/her. For that reason­ Dragons... I'm out.

    From tom keegan, on Thu 2 Apr 9:36PM

  4. wa.irvine,
    I'm from holland and i still regard­ Steven Gerrard as one of the best midfielders in the­ world, to say he is just a great athlete with a lot of­ passion for the game is underestimating him and you­ should give him more credit then that.. He also has­ great vision and technique and combines that with an­ incredible work rate, if you can't see that i'm­ afraid you're missing out on a great talent..

    From sjoerdveer, on Thu 2 Apr 9:35PM

  5. The Editor has too much to say for me lads, we are­ being unduely censored.
    I'm off to another forum.­ Ta-ra

    From tom keegan, on Thu 2 Apr 9:30PM

  6. Anti-arrogant is the word you're looking for. I­ criticised Ronaldo as well, he's not English now is­ he? I also complimented Beckham and Lampard, are they­ not English?
    Learn to read kiddo.. then maybe­ you'll say something relevant. :D

    From i am a teacup, on Thu 2 Apr 9:29PM

  7. That's EXACTLY what I said spenny... seems you need­ literacy lessons?
    I quote:
    "Gerrard needs to learn­ this, and not only show up for the so-called 'big ­ matches' although I'd rather this than the ­ Ronaldo-like 'small match'­ performances."
    You know it's pointless having­ a structured argument if one party can't read.­ Anyway, it's lunchtime and I'm off.

    From i am a teacup, on Thu 2 Apr 9:26PM

  8. anti English i see, o well nice life lol...

    From J, on Thu 2 Apr 9:25PM

  9. Ronaldo? lol plays very well against what id consider­ small teams, and yet when he plays against great teams­ he fails. take your blinkers off for once in your life­ wa.irvine.

    From J, on Thu 2 Apr 9:20PM

  10. Can the editor email me to point out what is so invalid­ about my message?

    From tom keegan, on Thu 2 Apr 9:19PM

  11. Incidentally tom, you said bye and last comment 5­ comments ago. I know truth hurts, but try not to get­ overly defensive and emotional.. it is after all only­ constructive criticism.
    All the best.

    From i am a teacup, on Thu 2 Apr 9:18PM

  12. Sure... good day to you sirs. Keep up the English­ arrogance of overrating and hyping up your players, and­ when you win no individual nor team titles, you wonder­ why oh why??
    Well I've just told you why. Enjoy the­ rest of your week.
    :)

    From i am a teacup, on Thu 2 Apr 9:15PM

  13. Blow you editor. you're not allowing constructive­ criticism.

    From tom keegan, on Thu 2 Apr 9:13PM

  14. You're confusing the meaning of ball control­ spenny, and looking for the killer pass every time does­ not constitute as vision; in that respect he­ doesn't come close to the names I­ mentioned.
    Gerrard's attributes include pace,­ aggression, long shooting/shot power, strength and­ stamina... along with passion and desire.
    Gerrard is­ not associated with ball control, dribbling,­ passing&control, vision nor any of these similar­ things...
    You and I must be speaking about the wrong­ Gerrard.

    From i am a teacup, on Thu 2 Apr 9:13PM

  15. Irvine do us all a favour? turn your computor off! Your­ in a very lonely corner at the momment. Say something­ contributory.

    From tom keegan, on Thu 2 Apr 9:10PM

  16. Since the award was established, we've had Lineker,­ Shearer, Lampard and Beckham twice feature in the top­ 3, none of them winning of course... So you also­ probably feel Gerrard is better than Lampard... maybe­ you're correct, but Lampard has shown enough­ consistency over a WHOLE season to warrant a place in­ the top 3, albeit 3 years ago. Gerrard needs to learn­ this, and not only show up for the so-called 'big­ matches' although I'd rather this than the­ Ronaldo-like 'small match' performances.

    From i am a teacup, on Thu 2 Apr 9:09PM

  17. wa.irvine so you say gerrard lacks Ball control,­ technique,­ passing ability and vision
    hmmm well you­ must be watching the wrong gerrard lol. im sure gerrard­ would walk into any international team with his great­ Ball control, technique,­ passing ability, vision and­ not to mention his goal scoring ability's. if he­ was Brazilian people like you would most likely have a­ different view on him....

    From J, on Thu 2 Apr 9:05PM

  18. As for Tom #2, before the month march, no-one was even­ speaking about Gerrard in context with winning awards­ for player of the season... so why all of a sudden?­ Well, maybe because he's had 4 good performances on­ the trot, but I assure you it has been everything short­ of perpetual this season... or else we'd have been­ talking about him in January and February when he was­ inspiring his team to draws and defeats. Just maybe...

    From i am a teacup, on Thu 2 Apr 9:04PM

  19. haha tom, do you mean the dive in 2005? yea that was­ quite an inspiration... you probably going around­ saying all Spanish, Italian, Argentine, Brazilian­ players are cheating, diving twats don't you? ah­ the hypocrisy :)
    and I won't be eating my words for­ now... He hasn't done enough this year for club and­ country this season to warrant a place in the world­ player of the year top 3 yet... unless of course­ Liverpool win the double. But I could do with some­ cutlery, so whenever you wish.

    From i am a teacup, on Thu 2 Apr 9:01PM

  20. About eating those words Mr Irvine. I'll get the­ knife and fork in the post to you!
    Did you see the­ inspiration in the 2005 european final aged 23.

    From tom keegan, on Thu 2 Apr 8:43PM
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