I loved this performance, it was everything I expected from a team managed by Capello but was starting to wonder if it would ever be produced. The absent Gerrard has got to be worried, I’m not sure how well he would fit into a team that played so cohesively; great shape and discipline and everyone making good decisions on distribution, delivering crisp accurate passes. We showed great patience, and could afford to due to the way we moved the ball and effectively pressed Croatia when they were in possession, but not to the point of stagnation that we seemed to reach against Andorra. We must still understand that we have reached a position where, as supporters, we are entitled to ask; are we Jekyll or Hyde? Are we really the team that performed tonight or the one that turned out on Saturday or against the Czech Republic? The performance can’t be knocked by carping about the opposition or that they went a man down, we were bringing it to them when they had 11 and they have a home record we would sell organs for but it is still just one performance, show me another three similar to this and I will start to get really excited! We need to continue to do it against opposition of the calibre of Croatia but also against lesser opponents who will put 10 and 11 men behind the ball for much of the game, will we be able to stay patient and confident in front of a chippy home crowd when it’s 0:0 after 60 minutes?
I saw the game live on Setanta and I don’t know what was finally resolved by way of a highlights package but let’s stop knocking Setanta about the way they are trying to sell the highlights. I’m no fan of Setanta, they pissed me off royally with their handling of NASN a few years back but they purchased an asset and with it the right to derive revenue from that asset. The question should be asked of the FA; why did you give up showcasing the national team on terrestrial television as a hostage to fortune in the first place? The maximum price a terrestrial broadcaster should have to pay for such a package should have been incorporated in the contract or the rights to the highlights kept in the hands of the FA so that they were in a position to place them in the best interests of the game.