England control possession for the most part. Gilberto's goal was not off side. So far everyone looks good except for Lampard, King, Smith and Robinson. Stand outs for England so far are Gerrard 4 last ditch tackles at the top of the box, Beckham making good decissions, Owen playing both sides of the ball, Shorey, Joe Cole (get off the ground lad).

Crouch should come on at half for Smith, Lampard has given up possesion more times that the rest of the England team combined, should bring on Carrick. King has made some poor passes and missed nearly every tackle.

I thought Brazil controlled possession for the first half, and England in the second half. a decent enough performance from England though, overall - the movement of the Brazilians in the first half had England chasing shadows though, it was quite embarrassing comparing the two sides, England play in straight lines, up and back, up and back, Brazil were so much better. second half Brazil took their foot off the gas and it was more like an end of season affair, which England took control of. a draw was a fair enough result, I thought.

the match ratings I'd have given for the England performances are as follows:

Paul Robinson 6.5 - a couple of good saves, but got caught out a couple of times with some decisions

Jamie Carragher 6.5 - solid in places, but was bedazzled a couple of times by Ronaldinho in particular
Nicky Shorey 6.0 - decent enough debut, didn't let anyone down for the most part, a couple of stray passes
John Terry 7.0 - got the goal, and was always in control at the back
Ledley King 7.0 - was mostly in control of the Brazilian attacks, cleaned up and blocked everything - one error which he might have been sent off for in a competitive match (pulling down the striker on the edge of the box, not a smart move Ledley!)

David Beckham 7.5 - my man of the match for England, announced his comeback in fine form. delivered a pin point free kick for the goal, his all-round game was very good. a couple of wasted free kicks, mind you, not what we'd expect of Becks - got very close with one first half effort though.
Joe Cole 6.5 - plenty of effort, but not much end product - was trying to 'out-Brazilian' the Brazilians with some of his antics and skills, didn't quite come off though.
Steven Gerrard 7.0 - gave Beckham a good run for the man of the match award, tracked the Brazilian runners well and tackled back superbly.
Frank Lampard 5.0 - complete cack, a waste of time, rubbish, drop him right now.

Alan Smith 5.0 - see Frank Lampard. why was Alan Smith picked for this game? he added nothing to the mix, and dropped back so far into England's half he was playing in the stand behind Paul Robinson's goal. not what you want from a striker, really.
Michael Owen 6.5 - worked hard but didn't have an awful lot to work with. he's definitely lacking the pace of old.

wembley stadium is the most awesome wonderful magnificent sight in the whole world, the immense pride i feel in being english after coming out of that game yesterday , best day of my life

Obviously you haven't lost your virginity yet.

well ok that mightve topped it

Ledely King was rubbish....He made some very poor passes one in particular to Kaka where Gerrard had to track all the way back and tackle Kaka at the top of the Box. King also conceded the free kick that gave Brazil the goal and then Diego was his mark and he let him go for the goal. The only player to concede possesion more was Lampard......what a shite performance, he seemed to have a free role which allowed him to stick his head firmly between his gludious arse cheeks. No wonder Barca squashed reports of Lamps joining them this summer over the weekend. If anything I think Gerrard and Carrick in the middle makes a lot more sense. Atleast Carrick can pass. the one time Lamps got the ball at the top of the box he booted it straight up into the air. Frank Lampard is a liabillity, he refuses to pass the ball to Gerrard in fear of being out classed. Doesn't he realize they are on the same team?

actually Ledley King was marking one of the Brazilian forwards, not tracking Diego - Diego should have been marked by Shorey (from what I recall he was tracking no one...) or one of the midfielders should have tracked Diego back.

plus everyone fears being out-classed by Gerrard, he's so damn good even Kaka kaks his Brazilian pants at the mere mention of him. of course. it goes without saying. doesn't it?

who miss timed the header to clear it? King! King was right in front of Diego all you see is Kings head drop and Diego power it in. Every fooking paper says it was Kings mistake. He also conceded possession so many times.

As for Gerrard he was named MOM and He did not score or get the assist whats that say about his contribution? We can't give Gerrard a pat without you lot having a go at us for it. Gerrard is a great player does that mean we should not aplaud him for giving the performance we expect from him?

just watch any England match and tell me you have ever seen Lampard pass the ball to Gerrard more than twice in one match. As Central partners in a possession team they should connect atleast 10 to 15 passes per game. Gerrard passes to the best option but lampard will push for the impossible to avoid passing to Gerrard.

there's nothing wrong with applauding a player when he's done a good job - it's when in the past you think Gerrard's had a good game for England when clearly he hasn't, but you still bang on about what a superb performance it was. that's probably why I gently mock Gerrard... I'll give credit where it's due. As I said in my first post, I thought he ran Beckham close for man of the match, but for me Beckham just about shaded it - in my opinion, if that's ok with you. others might not agree, so be it - that's football, it's all about opinions.

as for the Brazil goal - Ledley King was left to mark two Brazilian forwards, the cross went over the top of him and no one tracked Diego into the box. is Ledley King supposed to be able to track midfield runners and mark his own man? if he'd gone to Diego it would have left an unmarked striker. he is not a miracle man - I know if it was Jamie Carragher he would have been here, there, everywhere, blocking everything, even whilst suffering from cramp, a broken leg, a bad head, and piles - but not everyone's a superhuman defender.

i watched this game...and ona is right..

lampard very rarely passes to gerrard..

see for yourselves next time...

Lampard very rarely passes to anyone - usually it misses its target and flies out of play. Lampard should be dropped and replaced with absolutely anyone.

the worst part for Lampard is when the ball was rolling to him, at a leisurely pace and he failed to control it. I mean the pitch played a part obviously, but even so...

as for him not passing to Gerrard, I don't think that's necessarily true. they passed it to each other occasionally, causing the Brazilian team to sweat no doubt - both Gerrard and Lampard were absolutely zero threat to the Brazilians.

just watch the games you will see Lampard look over and think about passing then not do it every bloody time unless he is being closed down. But even then he will usually opt for a back pass to Terry.

I know you think I am making it up. But in the end Lamps is scared to be out it was the worst when you had Gerrard on the right with Carrick Lamps and Cole all Hammers together that match Gerrard touched the ball twice the entire game.

even in that game Gerrard only touched the ball twice he was the best player on the pitch eh?

cnut

the majority of people sat near me were surprised to see him get man of the match