Following England’s draw with the USA last Saturday, WCS blogger Doron has put together a number of player ratings, where 1 is the worst, 10 is the best and 6 is your average solid performance. England will be hoping to get their World Cup hopes back on track when they play Algeria this Friday.

Rob Green – 3
When you are a goalkeeper playing for a good team, concentration is as important as any other attribute. When the one moment to make a save comes around you must be ready for it. Rob Green cannot blame the movement of the World Cup ball – the jabulani – for his fumble that lead to the USA equalising. He was not concentrating and did not have his body fully behind the ball. From that mistake on, Green seemed to be nervous and put everyone on edge. The media talked up a “fantastic” routine save at his near post from Altidore, yet replays show he very nearly messed that up. Green was not helped by a changing back four in front of him but his mistake may be costly – he may be dropped.

Glen Johnson – 6
Johnson had a very solid game for England. Going forward he was particularly good and nearly scored a fantastic solo goal. However, for an attacking full back, Johnson’s crossing and final ball into the box were not good enough. He has a tendency to over-hit or slice his crosses. Defensively, I believe there are still question marks over him – his positional play does often leave the right back area exposed but he generally got away with that against the USA. He did however sometimes not recognise the American wide players coming in off their flanks.

Ledley King – 4
King had a poor game. He appeared to pick up an injury early on in the game but he was off the pace. He looked shaky, slow, mis-read balls, missed tackles and often stepped up too early leaving Terry exposed 1 vs. 1 at the back. Regardless of his injury, King is a fine player who had a very off day. I was really surprised by his poor performance, it was a worrying sign for England. His injury he sustained meant he was substituted at half time and now is definitely out of the Algeria game and possibly out of the World Cup.

John Terry – 7
I felt Terry’s performance went under the radar a little bit. It was overshadowed by other events and became a non-talking point. Terry was very good. He may not be the captain anymore but he lead very well and was vocal throughout. He was first to every header, in every tackle and to every loose ball. His performance was everything you want from a centre back and a little bit more.

Ashley Cole – 6
Cole did ok for England. In my opinion he did all that was asked of him. He got forward a lot and overlapped well with players ahead of him. He wasn’t troubled too often and when he was he defended perfectly well. Like Johnson, he wasn’t always aware of his opposite winger drifting in-field off the flanks but this is merely a minor point.

Aaron Lennon – 5
On the face of it, this may seem harsh. Lennon didn’t see the ball too much in the game, but he plays in a position that is associated with excitement for England. When he did have the ball, the expectation is that things will start to happen. Lennon got to the byline twice all game, once putting a good ball in and once nearly finding Rooney. He did play a great ball through to Heskey who should have scored. Lennon himself should have scored when played in by Rooney but he dallied on the ball and wrongly opted for a cross instead. Lennon’s role in the side is to find the strikers by putting good balls in and getting to the byline to cut the ball back. Lennon should pin the left back down and force him deep. Too often he picked the ball up static, passed backwards and he didn’t take on the opposition left back enough. There were signs of positive things from Lennon but he was too quiet and looked a little out of his depth.

Steven Gerrard – 7
Gerrard played very well. He set the tone from the beginning for England, leading superbly. He made a great run for his goal and finished the move very well. All game he was looking to try and spark England into life. The downside to his game was that his partnership with Lampard did not work. Gerrard failed to cover for Lampard when Lampard went forward too often and England kept being caught out in the middle. Gerrard’s impact on the game was tethered by the lack of English possession to which I feel he is partly to blame.

Frank Lampard – 5
Lampard was one of the big disappointments for me. His partnership with Gerrard did not work. Lampard should never be asked to sit and hold. He had to do this when Gerrard went forward, which was quite often. Lampard is not a sitting midfielder and it showed. Too often men ran off him. His passing was not quite as sharp as usual and looked a bit slow. Lampard is best when breaking through the middle or just holding his run outside the box – none of these assets to his game were exposed.

James Milner – 4
It’s hard to judge Milner. He was subbed off in the first half and was clearly struggling with the pace and altitude. Milner had been ill prior to the game and missed three days of training with a virus. It became apparent he just was not ready to play. He persistently fouled and got booked early on in the game. On the ball he was very sloppy. It was a big confidence boost for him to be selected and it was a shame he was not fit.

Wayne Rooney – 6
Rooney has had better games. He was playing deeper than he would have liked and struggled to get involved in the first half. His link-up play was however very good and he played some clever balls through to set Heskey, Lennon, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Gerrard through one on one. He got more involved in the second half and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions. Rooney picked up some brilliant positions and frequently was able to loose his marker but the service in to him and the crossing was not good enough.

Emile Heskey – 8
Heskey was the star man for England. His contribution was immense. He constantly won the ball, held it up and laid it off for a teammate. He played a fantastic part in Gerrard’s goal and whilst he should have scored when played through on goal his all round contribution in leading the line meant he created space and opportunities for his teammates. On the few occasions he was able to link up with Rooney he showed a clever understanding of the game and the pairing looked smart.

Subs:

Shaun Wright-Phillips – 5
He came on to replace Milner on his less favoured side. He struggled to have an impact on the game. He often ran into corners and gave the ball away. He did however work back well and helped out defensively whilst on a couple of occasions he looked dangerous on the break, beating his man with ease. His final ball lacked consistency and was too often not good enough.

Jamie Carragher – 4
Came on at half time to replace the injured King and was very poor. He looked incredibly slow and resorted to tactical fouling to compensate for his lack of pace. His partnership with Terry looked shaky and Carragher in particular was the liability. He failed to bring the ball out of defence and carry it out to the midfield. England should be concerned if Carragher is to start ahead of King now.

Peter Crouch – N/A
Crouch wasn’t on long enough to make any kind of real impression.

Coach:

Fabio Capello – 5
I always back him and think he is a fantastic coach, but I felt he got it wrong with Rooney and was wrong not to involve Joe Cole.

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Tags: Doron, England, SA 2010, South Africa 2010, WC 2010, World Cup

This entry was posted on Monday, June 14th, 2010 at 1:47 pm and is filed under International, Match Report, Opinion, Players, South Africa 2010, World Cup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.