The England Squad… Rated!
Because I know this is the sort of thing I’ll be interested to read in about 2 years time, I thought I’d post my ratings and comments on the England squad over the course of the world cup…
1 Paul Robinson 5
Had a poor tournament, flapped at crosses, caused some uncertainty and looked out of sorts and nervous. Plus point is the big game experience will help him at future tournaments, and he’s clearly Englands nr.1.
2 Gary Neville 6
Was missed when he didn’t play, but didn’t actually do very well when he did. Regularly caught out of position and starting to look his age. He’s the best of a bad bunch at RB.
3 Ashley Cole 6
Awful for the group games, and then a marked improvement saw him become one of our better defenders.
4 Steven Gerrard 6
Solid tournament, could’ve got forward more to support the single striker, and could’ve taken a few more games by the scruff of the neck. Was often sytmied into holding for Lampard, but still could’ve showed more.
5 Rio Ferdinand 7
Solid at the back, our best defender hardly put a foot wrong.
6 John Terry 6
Generally solid, but a few errors and a few poor halves in the group stages
7 David Beckham 5
Poor tournament for England’s captain, yet he walked away with 1 goal and 2 assists. Even his set pieces were poor against Portugal though, and that’s basically all he’s in the team for.
8 Frank Lampard 3
Awful tournament, and got worse as it went on until he reached his nadir against Ecuador. His wayward shooting clearly affected his confidence and resulted in wayward passing. He’s a quality player and will be back, but he’ll want to forget this tournament.
9 Wayne Rooney 5
Worked hard, but showed few flashes of why he’s our “Golden Boy”. Never came across as fully fit and asked to do a thankless task, He never really showed up and left without a goal.
10 Michael Owen 3
Poor. His injury would’ve been a blessing if we’d actually taken any other strikers.
11 Joe Cole 6
Our best player in the group games, but disapeared in the knock outs. Perhaps this is why Mourinho criticises him whenever he plays well?! Scored our best goal of the tournament.
12 Sol Campbell 4
Only played a few minutes, but played them poorly
13 David James did not play
14 Wayne Bridge did not play
15 Jamie Carragher 5
Not an international right back, but should be ahead of campbell as 3rd choice centre back.
16 Owen Hargreaves 8
Unfairly criticised before the tournament, Hargreaves showed why he’s so highly rated by Bayern Munich. Played well in the group, then even better in the knock outs. Was the stand out player against Portugal.
17 Jermaine Jenas did not play
why was he there?
18 Michael Carrick 6
Didn’t see much action, but didn’t do anything wrong.
19 Aaron Lennon 7
Always looked more threatening than Beckham. Had a stormer in a couple of games, but could create more (i.e. his final ball is not too great). If he holds his pace, with additional experience and development then he’ll be a world beater at the next world cup.
20 Stewart Downing 5
Didn’t get much opportunity, but didn’t let himself down.
21 Peter Crouch 6
Not Great but played his role well, when required.
22 Scott Carson did not play
23 Theo Walcott did not play
why was he there?
Sven Goran-Eriksonn 5
Got the squad wrong, and didn’t adapt his tactics until injury forced his hand. Even then he left his strikers far to isolated as he strived to push home his almost catenaccio tactics on each game.
Admitedly they worked, to some extent, but he seemed to forget that we do actually need to score one to win the game… He’s underachieved.
