Not sure what I just saw, was this a very good Spanish team or a spark free England team? I don’t think there is any question that the Spanish were very good value for their victory and didn’t look threatened very often by England but neither James nor Green had to stand on their heads to keep England in the game despite Spain putting out two world class strikers, in Villa and Torres, and one very good one, in Llorente, and the supply coming from Xavi and Iniesta. But this wasn’t a siege, a succession good saves, desperate blocks, corners, last ditch tackles and free kicks around the edge of the England penalty area. Spain seemed happy to back off and leave the England back four and midfield to knock it around in our half and only really press as we looked to get into the Spanish half. There was no real wide option, none at all from Downing and little more from Wright-Phillips, I thought I saw Carrick on the team sheet but that was the last I saw of him. Heskey and Barry put themselves about but the utter lack of supply left Agbonlahor unable to make any impression on the game.
Didn’t see may plus points tonight but the inclusion of Gerrard and Rooney would have undoubtedly disrupted the Spanish midfield dominance as would, hopefully , being involved in a meaningful game. The second half was slightly better but Capello didn’t make any significant tactical changes that generated more offensive potency but I did like the fact that he made all his changes at the start of the half so that he could see them play as a unit but the downside is that you are then limited in the changes you can make late on when chasing the game. We lost to the European Champions and ante-post favourites for the 2010 World Cup in their back yard, I’m not losing too much sleep.
