England 1-0 Slovenia (Grp C 23rd June 3pm)

Upson was good today but he is always prone to a mistake and against a good team I think he will be a liability.

Terry and Upson were the best today IMO. I hate to say it but Terry is miles ahead of Carragher (who is growing old and is outpaced every match), Upson should have started from the beginning of the tournament.
plus don't be cruel on Barry! the lad didn't play that bad though he missed a few passes.

Terry wasn't bad for a change. Actually played like his life depended on it, and maybe it did, (well is England career). Miles ahead of Carra, I don't think so... At least your wife's safe with Carra.

I wasnt that impressed to be honest, Argentina in the quarter's lurk and they would make hay against England's back four. Thought Rooney was crap as well.
The only credit I would give the team in red was that the keeper saved Slovenia from a tonking

WHat? That Argentina back four is potentially suicidal for that team much more so than England's. It will only take a manager of Capello's stature (and less) to outthink Diego Maradona. WHy everyone is having wet dreams over Argentina I don't know. There attack can paper over the cracks for sure.

p.s - Gerrard was simply faultless today. Can't remember a single mistake from him. Found players with the most incredible, inch perfect balls.

inch perfect balls.

Think MsGerrard would agree with you there Pete 

His football was good as well 

I thought England were fairly average, I really don't fancy them if they have to play Germany in the next round.

I think we are in the minority here. Twas funny comparing the BBC analysis to RTEs.

I think we are in the minority here. Twas funny comparing the BBC analysis to RTEs.

RTE's they gonna be fair! NOT! and here is the Proof

Striker Jermain Defoe rescued England's stuttering World Cup campaign with a first-half strike that was enough to beat Slovenia 1-0 in Group C on Wednesday and book a place in the second round.

Defoe started for the first time in the tournament and converted James Milner's perfect cross in the 23rd minute to put England ahead and send their suffering fans into a frenzy.

England once again struggled to find their form, although were always on top of a disappointing Slovenia side.

Defoe had started in place of Emile Heskey in attack with Milner in the lineup for the ineffective Aaron Lennon. Matthew Upson started in central defence with Jamie Carragher suspended.

England started nervously but soon found their feet, with Rooney working hard and linking up with Defoe, Milner and Gerrard in a series of attacks on the Slovenian goal.

Rooney, Frank Lampard and John Terry all came close but England's pressure finally paid off when Milner broke free on the right and superbly picked out Defoe for a clinical finish.

Defoe almost scored again three minutes later when his shot from outside the area was palmed away by goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, with Lampard blasting the rebound over the bar.

England could have doubled their lead on the half-hour when Handanovic pulled off a superb double save from Defoe and then Gerrard before leaping on the loose ball as it spun precariously towards the goal line.

England kept up the pressure after the break, with Defoe having an effort disallowed for offside and Terry almost getting on the scoresheet when his close range header was saved.

Rooney, heavily criticised in the first two matches, was once again less than impressive, although lively, and substituted during the second half for Joe Cole.

Slovenia had few clear chances but England were worried after 67 minutes when Bostjan Cesar picked up a loose ball and shot narrowly wide. They kept up the pressure until the end but could not find a way through the England defence.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/worldcup/2010/0623/england_slovenia.html

Load of tosh!!

I think we are in the minority here. Twas funny comparing the BBC analysis to RTEs.

Same in dutch media, they only rate Gerrard, Terry, Rooney and Lampard, but feel the rest are very average. Especially Johnson and Barry are completely being butchered today.

Rooney was sh*te again though.

He'll pick up form in the knockouts though. He'll have to.

Your either a champion when your winning, or a loser when your losing. That's how it is with England and that's how it will always be.

Same in dutch media, they only rate Gerrard, Terry, Rooney and Lampard, but feel the rest are very average. Especially Johnson and Barry are completely being butchered today.

Barry was poor and nearly gifted them an equaliser. They are all running scared now,

Well done England for (stumbling) into the last 16 , but regardless of how ya's got there , ya's are there . Time to step up now though .

Cmon eng - er - land !!!

Highlights are starting on BBC1 in case people have missed it. I missed the first half.

Tell you the best thing about watching England - seeing what our captain is really about. Which in a way is the worst thing about watching England.

I could be posting in the reasons to be cheerful thread.

Get the excitment of World Cup matches, add the beauty of the Copacabana beach, plus free beer and food, and also the company of a few dear friends. After the matches, I also watched a cover band of The Beatles, which was awesome.

Hmm, I guess I just had a wonderful day. Oh, the game? Yeah, England won, well done to the England fans here. But I couldnt care less!

Johnson, Lampard and Barry were very poor.

Johnson looks overweight and remarkably ponderous at the moment.

Barry well how sh*t was he, again looked slow and couldnt pass water let alone a football yesterday.

Lampard again another anonymous game.

Other than that I am really pleased we got through but still think the team should be changed against Germany.

England looked bloody immense for 60 or so minutes.

And actually, going by the FIFA Rankings, our group was the second hardest. Germany's is the hardest.

I agree with you, a lot of tosh is spouted about "easy group"  when in reality nothing is easy when you are playing against teams who qualified, and are all dangerous on their day. Usa have beaten Spain, and Usa had two very even and competitive matches against Slovenia and Algeria, both could have gone either way.

F**k me I wonder what some people are watching Johnson was one of England best players and gave them a genuine threat down the right.

 I thought he was excellant as he was in the USA game. He kept the ball well and won a lot of tackles how exactly was he ponderous.

I have to agree with you, corbally.

Barry, on the other hand, was as slow as has been mentioned. There was one point near the end of the match where he just couldn't keep up. He literally looked like he was running in mud while whoever he was chasing quickly put distance between the two of them. It was before the Rooney substitution, I remember, because I couldn't believe he wasn't taken off.

At least your wife's safe with Carra.

As if I'm gonna have one