Agreed. Absolutely fantastic player.

and japan too the top 8 world cup

Edited for accuracy.

Spain deserved the win and played some great football however it could have been different had Pique been sent off early on for the foul on Heskey. Poor defending for the two goals too, Jagielka for the first although tbf it was his only mistake and Villa punished him for it and the second one was shocking defending from Terry.



Downing was awful and I really don't know how he gets picked, we looked better with Beckham on the right and SWP on the left.



Add Gerrard, Rio, Cole and Rooney to that side and I think it would have been a much closer game.

Garrick was dreadful. Further proof that he is not international quality. Another flat-track bully

And Walcott.

Stuart Downing over Ashley Young, even in a friendly?



FFS

I normally hate folk who say things like this, so apologies in advance.



The referee last night was terrible. (and his assistants)



The Heskey decision, if it's a friendly, fine, If that's a knockout game in a World Cup, it's a howler. How he thought he could be offside when he spun him, astounding, To spin him, he had to come from behind, and go across him. All through the game I thought he was poor, pulling back play when England were breaking with SWP, little things, I think Beckhams yellow at the end was his frustration at what he thought was a 'weighted' refereeing performance.



I thought England were decent at times. Spain are European Champions, but apart from a couple of pieces of brilliance, England looked comfortable. I don't recall Green touching the ball prior to picking out of the net. I recall the last time England went there, when Rooney had a moment, England were so lacklustre, I don't think they managed a shot on target and were taught a massive lesson.



Beckham was excellent when he came on, that pass to SWP, unreal. I thought SWP was good, Barry & Carrick in the first half were good, I think the balance that they give England, your less likely to get broken on like always semms to happen when we play Lampard & Gerrard.



Terry was awful for the 2nd goal, if Llorente misses it, Ramos is right behind him. Quite how they've got two free men at the far post, and Terry literally marking nobody on the edge of the area, strange.

I have only seen it a couple of times - but couldn't quite work out what he was doing..or meant to be doing

Yep, forgot about him. There is more to come from us than what we saw last night.

Said the same myself a few pages back.



It was one of the worst decisions i have seen in a long time.

How can Capello possibly overlook a world class left-winger



Strange that a world class, experienced manager may may actually think he's not good enough but an internet warrior who thinks he knows everythink (i.e. you) thinks Young shoudl be a shoe-in.

I'd agree with all that post, especially about the referee. I don't like coming online just to lynch referees and their assistants, but pedantic doesn't even cover the refereeing last night. England were getting pulled for everything and anything, it was terrible to say it was a friendly.



Re: the Heskey incident, I don't care whether it's a friendly or not. He was onside and pulled down clear on goal. Should have been a red card really.



We aren't a million miles away, we were just outclassed by Spain's strongest team (except Puyol), and I'd fancy us to give them a run for their money with our strongest team.



A quick mention to Capello's selection of Downing over Young (and Milner, arguably), which was quite astonishing. I've never rated Downing, and especially when you consider how well Ashely Young's been playing this season, it beggars belief.

[url=http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/84445/EXCLUSIVE-Toon-to-turn-to-RobsonRobson to Toon?[/url

Hello Relegation, how do you do ?

Who rattled your cage?



Young > Downing.



Everyone knows this.

Fella, you were saying that Young is an incredible talent. If so, why does it appear that Capello doesn't agree with you?

No idea. Perhaps he thought you can't play Wright-Phillips and Young in the same team, in which case I'd drop the former and play the latter instead.



The England midfield were invisible last night posing no threat at all, and Downing had a stinker of a 45 minutes. I'm baffled Young wasn't even allowed an appearance off the bench.

I think Capello obviously felt that the midfield who performed so admirably in Germany, and took the plaudits, deserved another go last night, and maybe he's right. What message do you send out to the likes of Downing if he has his best game for England and then sits his back on the bench again for the next friendly.



I understand there's a temptation to try things, but he must feel that he's trying to build a squad, or a nucleus of a squad of 24/25 with the World Cup in mind, he can't just take a quick snapshot and think "I've seen enough", he'll want to see how each individual performs in various scenarios, different circumstances before he puts a big tick against them like. Barry for one, he's and England player now, looks the part, possibly could be Barry+1 in Englands midfield ? Ref, Downing, he had a good game in Germany, Capello will have been keen to see him back that up last night, but he didn't really. Maybe he'll get another chance too. You'd like to think then, Capello will give A.Young two or three games, to see him put his claims forward. The annoying thing with Downing is that England are screaming out for that balance which he could provide, but doesn't.



I thought at the time, Crouch was a waste of a substitution. Actually, on subs, I think that's the first time I've seen Capello do that, treat it as a friendly, make wholesale changes, normally he brings Joe Cole on with 90 secs left to run down the clock like.



Capello will have got what he wantedo out of last night, are England going the right way ? Yes, for sure. Compared to some of the lacklustre friendlies that Sven & McLaren served up it was okay, we looked to keep the ball pretty well at times, something everyone has moaned about for years, there's less kick & rush. Can a second string England team beat the European Champions ? No. So, he'll know that against decent opposition, like Germany, it's fine to not play his strongest team, for England to beat the best, we have to have Rio stopping Villa, Gerrard driving at defenders & Rooney running at Pique.

Thing with Downing is that whilst he's not the best, he delivered 2 quality balls for the best chances England had in the first half. If Beckham did that people would be raving.

Wasn't it South Korea? And weren't they in the last 4?





As for Young over Downing, for some reason Capello rates Downing, didn't he say he's the player who's most surprised Capello?



I think Young will get his chance soon and will take it, it's a shame Downing is the only real left footed winger we have, he's inconsistently average.

Ryan Giggs has signed a new one year contract at Utd

SWP was one of England's best players last night. On the RW I'd have SWP ahead of Young, no problem. No problem, at all.









Maybe Capello doesn't think Young can go past international defenders (like SWP did on a few occasions).



The midfield were poor. I keep hearing how Carrick is mercurial, best passer, world class, worth £18m etc.. Last night, he was the worst midfielder on the pitch, by a stretch. He worked hard but he went hiding too often, his passing was poor and he he looked slow and cumbersome, not to mention his lack of concentration. Hopefully, this will mark the death knell of the cries "Carrick for England".

When I talk to proper United fans they often moan about Giggs and state that he is past it. is he having an Idian summer or are some United fans simply....fickle?

Yawn



You are the most boring and predictable poster on here