It is often said that the good teams find a way to win when playing badly. By that logic, England might just be the best team in this tournament!
Another awful looking performance against Trinidad and Tobago was tedious to watch for us England fans, so I dread to think what it was like for the neutrals out there. It is to be hoped that the coach saw what an improvement there was when he made the substitutions and changed the formation, allowing both Gerrard and Lampard to roam forward from midfield, instead of taking it in turns to stay back and defend. These two players are the best in England's team (at least until Rooney reaches full fitness), and they simply have to be used properly. The alternative is to drop one of them, because they are both being wasted at the moment.
Having said all that, Frank Lampard could normally be relied upon to have scored two goals from the chances that he had today. A major positive was the performance of Aaron Lennon when he came on (kudos to welch and the other Spurs fans!). Football really can be a wonderfully simple game - find yourself a quick winger, tell him to run around people and cross the ball into the path of incoming forwards.
Another major positive? Well, we've qualified for the next round after only two games, and can rest some players for the final group game. A win for Sweden later this evening could still mean that England would need a draw to win the group, but this is the best position that England have been in in a World Cup since 1982, if my memory is correct.
This is shaping up to be a typical England World Cup campaign - labour to an unconvincing place in the second round, proceed onwards until encountering top quality opposition, and then produce your best performance whilst losing gallantly and returning home with honour intact. On the other hand, there is just the possibility that the team will stay in Germany long enough to find it's form, and do some serious damage in the later stages.
). Croatia has nothing to lose.
