Sweden and Ukraine games

Apologies for the delay to this blog entry, I had issues with logging in which have now been resolved.

Well everyone's getting very excited about England's performances. I would ask for a bit of perspective - the draw against France as I blogged was commendable, but beating Sweden and Ukraine is hardly the work of world beaters. Still, there's no question that Roy Hodgson's teams are usually boring as hell and hard to beat and so it proved in the mind numbing dullness that was the Ukraine game. The Sweden game was exciting and the fact that England came from behind was encouraging but there should be concerns about the sloppiness of the Swedish goals from a defensive point of view, unusual for a Hodgson team. Encourgaingly Terry seems to have rediscovered his old form and stayed out of trouble thus far, Walcott turned in an unlikely match winning cameo and Steven Gerrard has been superb finally free from the shackles of playing with Lampard in every tournament, and whatever Lampard's merits as a player, we all know they never worked together. Parker has been an excellent all action defensive midfielder allowing Gerrard the freedom to do his creative stuff. The other question is Rooney - I'd love to see a manager brave enough to leave him out. There's no denying his talent but Carroll and Wellbeck both scored and worked well in Hodgson's not very attractive football. Do England need Rooney? I felt they gelled far less well against Ukraine but who knows?

Anyway here's what I made of it v Sweden:

Hart - 6
Not as convincing as normal but solid for the most part.
Johnson - 6
Sloppy defensively (makes a change...) but good going forward.
Cole - 7
Good.
Terry - 7
Poor on the goals but otherwise solid
Lescott - 7
As with Terry.
Milner - 7
Hard work as ever.
Young - 6
Rather anonymous in the tournament so far and this was more of the same.
Parker - 8
Endless graft as ever.
Gerrard - 8
His best displays in an England shirt this tournament.
Wellbeck - 8
Very classy goal and tireless.
Carroll - 7
Great header for the goal and worked hard, especially for him.

Subs:
Walcott - 9
Never been his greatest fan but that was a match winning cameo.
Oxlade - 6
No time.

v Ukraine

Hart - 7
Played well.
Johnson - 7
Good going forward...you know the rest.
Cole - 7
Love him or loathe him, he's a good player.
Terry - 7
Solid enough.
Lescott - 6
Solid.
Milner - 6
Offered little in terms of creativity.
Young - 5
Again virtually anonymous.
Parker - 7
All action hard work.
Gerrard - 8
Excellent again.
Wellbeck - 6
Saw little of the ball.
Rooney - 6
Scored but did little else.

Subs:
Walcott - 6
Not much this time round.
Carroll - 6
Not much time.
Oxlade - 6
No time.