FWIW I thought England were, by and large, appalling. Gerrard was diabolical apart from his (admittedly fine) goal. Lampard was only marginally less bad. Beckham delivered one or two good balls, but when not playing the long ball, is out of his depth. I agree in part with the comments made about the substitutions. I applaud Sven being - for once - a little bit attacking. Lennon clearly had to come on, and Rooney undoubtedly lifted the affair. But a couple of points. 1) Why on earth take off Carragher? If you're going to 3 at the back, Beckham CANNOT be one of them; neither can A. Cole. Beckham was the logical swap for Lennon - but Sven bottled it here. Lennon, IMHO, was far more potent down the right that Beckham. He actually took on, and beat, players, for a start. 2) Why on earth did Sven bring Walcott, if not to bring him on for Owen? Is Sven waiting for a 'dead rubber' to blood the guy? If so, what was his inkling as to his talent in the first place? Does he not trust him? If I were Defoe, even Fowler or Johnson, I'd be sick at not being taken.
