Tuesday 29 March 2011

Half Time England 1 Ghana 0 - Thank God Parker Aint Playing!


Ouch, it is a bit tasty out there! Has anybody told Ghana this is a friendly? Some of the buggers seem to think they have joined a mercenary rebel army in Libya! Twice I've flinched thinking, that could be a broken leg on another day, particularly that coming together of Baines and one of the Black Stars.

It has been a refreshingly competitive game in every sense of the term. What a miss from Young and what a save from Hart. And the Carroll goal was a beauty. He really did bury the chance superbly and Downing's movement, lay off and shielding of Carroll to prevent the defender from getting at him, was very clever indeed. Young's pass was also very good.

We are looking very vulnerable at the back. Baines may be good going forward but he is weak in the tackle and Ghana have skinned him two or three times already. Cahill and Jagielka both look as if they can do it at this level but only with Ferdinand or Terry alongside them.

I must say, even with wingers on the wrong flanks, I like this performance. How ironic, given arguments over Zola's use of wrong footers, that when Downing had the chance to bend in a shot with his left foot, he chose to blast it with his right - wide of course.

The Barry - Parker argument is still undecided in my book. Barry played a delicious pass out to Johnson - it went further than all Parker's passes added together on Saturday; and Ghana are a darn site better than Wales. That said, I suspect Parker would be screening the back four better. Might it be that Barry is a better creative midfielder than the Claret & Blue Anchor?

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