England vs. France: Review and Player Ratings (Part 2)
Continued…
Malouda once again created a neat interchange in the middle of pitch before sliding the ball wide for Eric Abidal to sprint down the right and past Lescott and cross the ball into the path of down the left who served a delicious cross
for Valbuena to score from a side-footed half volley to make it 2 for Les Blues.
Looking thoroughly unenthusiastic from the touchline, the English manager seemed to agree that his side were not capable of matching the superior passing game that Les Blues were playing, but as Milner’s header from Gerrard’s free kick
flashed across face of the goal, it bounced off the top of the bar however a threat from free kicks was still very evident.
Unfortunately, England’s main asset on set-pieces, Andy Carroll, was called off by Fabio Capello and his replacement was another debutant Jay Bothroyd. From the first set-play since Jay’s introduction, the new young player showed promise
as he came close to scoring.
Gerrard played a simple ball into the area for James Milner who shot the ball between the sticks but the ball was deflected by the French player and it went out for a corner. From the resulting corner, Milner again smacked the ball into
the six-yard box and again Adam Johnson was unlucky not to find himself with more time to control as the French defender scrambled the ball away for clearance.
With Milner now seeing a lot more of the ball after being pushed back more centrally by the manager, it was one of his classic late arrivals into the area that saw the Three Lions come within a whisker of pulling a goal back.
Gerrard twisted and turned down to the right and pulled a smart low cross across the front of the goal and the French goalie spilled, only for Milner to fire his low drive inches past the post to emanate groans from home fans.
After that, it was all Samir Nasri, who gave another sensational performance for the Les Blues, as he went passing through two English players and fired a cracking shot towards England goal which was some-how saved by Ben Foster.
England nearly spoiled the French invasion when, with five minutes remaining, Fabio Capello made his third and last substitution and brought on Spurs’ Peter Crouch, the third tall striker of the night, mere seconds after coming on the
striker latched onto one of England’s first successful crosses into the area to side-foot volley the ball into the back of the net for his 22nd goal in his 42 appearance at the international level.
An extensive belated rally from home side could not force a vivid, and thoroughly unjustified, equaliser and England tasted another defeat against France.
England has failed to beat France since 1997 hence Les Blues remain unbeaten. It was an outstanding performance from Laurent Blanc’s men, who deservedly won the friendly match at Wembley stadium.
Nonetheless here are the Bettor.com’s player ratings of this match.
England:
Ben Foster: 6.5:
The Birmingham City goalkeeper had a nervy start as he almost spilled a shot from Gorcuff in the starting minutes of match. The former Manchester United shot stopper was beaten at his near post for the first France goal. The young English
goalie did not look calm in the match and needed someone experienced guiding him as he clearly was unable to handle the pressure.
Theo Walcott: 5:
Without a doubt, the Arsenal winger was the worst performer on the England side. He was a spectator for most of the first half and was lazy on most of the occasions, as he gave away possession far too easily. Moreover, there was also not
much help from his team mates, although he is capable of much more but failed to impress at Wembley.
He was rightly substituted by Fabio Capello after the first half and Manchester City’s Adam Johnson took his place.
To be continued in part 3.
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