Player ratings England v France.[R]

[RobB]

James - 5. Where was he on the free kick? Didn`t do much else.

Neville, King, Cole, Campbell - 8 each. I thought our defence looked solid, France never really troubled them, until Heskey came on to help.

Scholes and Lampard - 7. Scholes put himself about but seemed to tire early in the second half. Lampard got the goal but was otherwise quiet.

Beckham and Gerrard - 3. They would have got 6 but they believe their own hype and it cost us. Why does Beckham have to hit penalties like that? He slipped over against Turkey trying to burst the ball. And Gerrards back-pass was the worst bit of Football I`ve ever seen.

Rooney - 8. Running at players, tackling players, forearm smashing them. Won the Pen (although should have played in Vassell). Ran himself into the ground before Sven replaced him with Heskey.

Owen - 9. For his impression of the invisible man. 4 for his performance.

Subs:

Heskey - 5. Did exactly what I thought he`d do. Ran around, fell over abit, gave away the free-kick from which ZZ scored.

Vassell and Hargreaves - 6. Did OK closing down and chasing lost causes.

Sven - 7. We looked organised and played well in spells but if hitting long balls was part of the game plan I`ll give him 5.

Overall it was an enjoyable game. It would be sickening to go out of the tourney like that but at least it`s made the remaining group games more intresting. Despite us losing I`m actually more confident now than before the game of us winning the trophy, I was worried France would thrash us but we could have been 2 up and cruising. Our luck can only improve and I`ll predict an England/France final, we owe them one.

[its called football]

James, 6, quite game, nothing he could do about either goal really, and wasn't to blame for the penalty, little he could do but go for that ball

King, 9, shut the doubters up
Campbell, 8 Solid as ever
Cole, 7, had a bit of a hard time from Pires early on but was good to his promise to kick him a lot, and slowly took control
Neville, 8, stood up to Zidane well

Scholes, 7, looked good going forward, but left Cole stranded a bit, needs to learn to tackle
Lampard, 7, scored, otherwise simple and solid
Gerrard, 7, was an 8 after 90 minutes for his passing and work rate....... you know the rest
Beckham, 5, can't tackle without sliding, had some poor touches. Nice free kick for the goal, but dissappointing even without the penalty miss.

Rooney, 9, would have got a 10 but for his temper. Superb
Owen 6, quite, some dangerous runs but never got on the end of anything

Subs,

Vassell 7, looks dangerous, was open a certain to score if Rooney had slid him the ball before the penalty
Heskey 7, poor to give away that free kick, but came in and kept the ball, when will people begin to understand his worth?
Hargreave, 7, came in and got England passing again when we were really under the cosh, ironically I thought he had really helped settle us down for the last ten. Bloody Zidane!

Sven, 8, Kept the palyers calm, was right to bring off a carded Scholes and Roopney when he was looking like loosing his temper. Also good to bring on fresh legs for Owen and try and get hold of the ball. Good choice to take the risk on the inexperianced King, and fuel the players with the belief and understanding to go out and pass the ball against the French in the first half.

Overall very very happy with the way we played early on but we really need to loose the ten behind the ball mentality that blighted our second half, there was something ineveitable about their goals I'm afraid. Hopefull a few whippings on the way to a rematch in the final will see us take revenge. We definitely owe them one!

[FireStriker515]

I agree with all the ratings except Beckhams. He did way more than Owen did and you gave him worse ratings. He is the one who sent the ball up the feild most of the time, either on the dribble or pass. There are way to many Beckham haters out there. I agree he is far overrated but give credit were it is due. He should have at least got a 6, an 8 if he woulda hit the PK. lol

[DanRod78]

From 6 to 8 because of 1 penalty kick? I thought that penalty kicks were "given goals" and that's why people celebrate before shooting them.

And I believe the opposite is true, a missed penalty is just as bad or worse than giving a penalty.

[its called football]

I agree with all the ratings except Beckhams. He did way more than Owen did and you gave him worse ratings. He is the one who sent the ball up the feild most of the time, either on the dribble or pass. There are way to many Beckham haters out there. I agree he is far overrated but give credit were it is due. He should have at least got a 6, an 8 if he woulda hit the PK. lol
I see where you are coming from, but Owen is reliant on others, where as Beckham should do it for himself. He made some good runs, but wasn't found by the pass. It seems strange to me that he two players usually listed as englands best were the two who were the worst today, Beckham was the fourth best player in the midfield.

[afgrijselijkheid]

i will just say this: i hope we can all drop this joke that neville can't play - frankly, ive never understood the crap he takes

the whole backline, as group and individually = 8.5



Heskey 7, poor to give away that free kick, but came in and kept the ball, when will people begin to understand his worth?



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