We're just coming up to half-time..... Kiraly Gabor has saved a Lampard penalty. Corner in stoppage time. Score: 0-0 Half-time whistle.
The first 40 minutes were rather boring but things livened up in the last five minutes of the first-half. After the penalty miss, England seemed to up the tempo, as if they had just gone a goal down. Two excellent crosses from David Beckham and England could have been two goals up. Kiraly saved a close range header and Joe Cole headed onto the post.
Owen Hargreaves comes on for Gary Neville. He'll probably take over the holding role from Jamie Carragher. Gerrard heads a goal. Just over a minute gone in the second-half. England 1 - Hungary 0
John Terry rocks the baby.... after heading in from a David Beckam free-kick on the left. Kiraly Gabor came off his line to punch the ball but the Chelsea defender nipped in with a slight tough to make it England 2 - Hungary 0
With 55 minutes gone, Dardai brings Hungary back into the game with a terrific swerving shot from just outside of the England area.... into Paul Robinson's top left corner. England 2 - Hungary 1
The youngest man ever to wear an England shirt in a full international. Michael Owen and Steven Gerrad make way for Peter Crouch and Theo Walcott.
Theo Walcott, who still hasn't played in the Premier League for Arsenal, gave us a first glimpse of his pace in the 69th minute, as he broke down the right to cross low for Peter Crouch. Unfortunately (for the England substitutes), the cross was cut out.
John Terry comes off for Sol Campbell..... but the game gets underway before the Arsenal defender can take up his position. Within a minute, Sol Campbell goes in the book.
Peter Crouch Makes it Three Joe Cole brought the ball forward and looked for the right pass. He seemed to be waiting too long but the grass cutting ball through reached Peter Crouch, who tured and slotted the ball to the right of a diving Kiraly Gabor. England 3 - Hungary 1
Final Score Three minutes of added time..... brought no further goals. So the holding exercise ends as England fans sing 'Football's Coming Home'. Well, too early for that but at least there are no further injuries. Final Score: England 3 - Hungary 1
Decent preformance but nothing more i'd say. Beckham played his best game for England in a long time.
from following the game on Soccernet Gamecast....it did sound like Beckham was playing lights out...with his crosses being spot on a majority of the time.... so by Carragher playing the Holding Midfielder...does that mean England rolled out with a 4-1-4-1...as I read that Owen was the only forward.....also did England change to the 4-1-2-1-2 when Crouch/Walcott were playing? or did Walcott play more midfield?
Thanks.....what's your opinion? is something feasible for the World Cup, or was this something Sven was just tinkering with?
It looks like Sven is going to play that 4-1-3-1-1 formation at the World Cup. And if the past two games are anything to go by then it looks like Carragher is going to get the nod over Hargreaves and Carrick to get the holding role. Carragher infront of Ferdinand and Terry is only going to make the defence stronger. And it also enables Lampard and Gerrard to go forward more without one of them pulling back. And Gerrard is going to be used as an attacking player for once in an England jersey and play to his strength.
Defoe or Andy Johnson, most probably Defoe. I think Sven should have picked Beattie, I'm not biased, Andy Johnson is an Everton player now. But Beattie would have offered something different. Defoe and Johnson are too similar to Owen. I think Rooney will go though.
Beckham had a really good game, his crosses were great. If Sven decides to go with Crouch up front from the get go it'll be a headache for any team defending England
It's not Walcotts fault that he was picked but you can clearly see that he is not ready for this yet. Crouch once again showed the haters how usefull of a player he really is.
Pretty good game by England, I especially like that Eriksson seems to concider playing both Lampard and Gerrard as attacking midfielders. Not sure that Carragher is the best choice to cover up behind though, he looked a little lost, and there wasn´t that much balance in midfield until Hargreaves came on in the second half. This is the key position for the team, offensively they have everything they need, and the defenders are strong as usual. Hungary isn´t the strongest opponent, but they are ok, and a win is a win. A few really positive things. Crouch shows that he will be useful, and I can´t remember the last time I saw Beckham this good. On the other hand the def midfield is still a bit unsure, and time is running out to find real balance, it worked against Hungary, but it will be another pressure on the defense in the WC, and then you need to find the right formation, and the right player for the role. People mention Carrick a lot, but he doesn´t seem to be an option for Eriksson, or he would have given him a chance in the def midfield role. Owen doesn´t look sharp, and no wonder, he has hardly played this year, and is a big questionmark to me. He´s a great goalscorer, but when he´s out of form he seems to loose his timing completely, and therefor not finding himself in any good positions to score, he looked a little lost i thought. Walcott showed his pace, but also that he doesn´t really know how to use it in the best way. Joe Cole looks sharp, and will be a handful for our shaky swedish right defense in the WC, no doubt. All in all a big step in the right direction, I used to think that england could challenge for the title, but that was before Rooneys injury, now I don´t think they have what it takes, but I still see them going pretty far, a semi-final isn´t at all impossible.