England/Hungary Friendly: My Takes

All in all, not the most satisfying of matches, although the job got done.

In the first half, England had almost no ideas in the attacking third — despite having one solid header off a Beckham cross, Owen was useless, and Gerrard was too far back, it seemed to me. Clearly the offense was re-directed in the second half and immediate dividends were paid. That form will provided dividends in Germany if they can hold it. As for the second-half substitutes, I knew Walcott was pacey, but he seemed lost, and until he scored that unlikely goal (and celebrated by doing the robot: whaaaaaa?????), Crouch was an ungainly mess.

I wasn’t sure about Carragher as a distributor, either; I think Carrick should get the start on Saturday. And I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what Ashley Cole was up to much of the time, but he was active. The center of the back line was solid, though: John Terry is the unsung key to this squad and a damn solid player. Not too many players give up their body so willingly and to such pointed effect. That was a great header he scored on. Rio only looked out of sorts once or twice at most. Gary Neville, on the other hand, seemed to think he was a striker and took a pair of ill-advised shots and was generally out of rhythm all the first half. The defensive substitutions were abyssmal: Hargreaves played like a donkey (that Hungarian goal, which was magnificent, was almost entirely his to deny and he didn’t even get close), and Sol Campbell played like the back end of said donkey.

I thought Beckham was superb: one dangerous free/corner kick after another. I had a phone call when he got his card, which was disappointing, but in the main I thought he did just what he should have done again and again and made me realize how dangerous England can be in a match made up of set pieces. Man Of The Match in my book.

Joe Cole, while not exactly Samba-ing, continues to rattle his defenders, and his lead-up to Crouch’s goal was lovely. I am a Chelsea supporter and have marveled at how he has blossomed under Mourinho. And I completely understand why opposing fans and players would like to smack him. He’s got a bulldog mentality and a surprisingly deft touch.

I have no idea why Lampard missed that penalty — but he seemed to shrug it off and continued to be useful all over the pitch. He’s a steadying presence even when he isn’t at the vanguard of the attack.

Gerrard’s “dive”: I don’t think so. From my vantage, and I’ve watched it about 6 times, the Hungarian defender didn’t touch him on the challenge but landed on the end of his foot, making it impossible for him to take an unimpeded next step. I’m not saying that should have been enough to bring him down, I’m just suggesting that there was an actual reason to fall. Otherwise, I’m not sure he was effective with the ball at his feet. At his head, on the other hand: that was a lovely finish.

Robinson had a few dodgy moments (a loose ball near the very end that he had to do a 180 to clear), but looked solid in the main.

The Hungarians were hearty if not skillful — and England, at least on paper, ought to have thrashed them. (Then again, 3-1 with a missed penalty is a pretty solid result.) And the Dutch ref might’ve flashed a few more yellow cards at them: they kept body-checking charges through the midfield like it was ice hockey.

Not a great result — which, again, sounds a funny thing to say about 3-1. But a decent ramp-up.

Makes me eager to see how the Lions handle Jamaica.