Fabio Capello was pleased to have been able to give debuts to three players last night at Wembley, and of the three, Carroll, Henderson and Jay Bothroyd, Newcastle’s Andy Carroll looked the most promising, as he put in an impressive display in a game where the service to him was very poor.
Andy Carroll – in action for England Wednesday night
Sunderland’s Jordan Henderson had a tough time coming to grips with the impressive France midfield, but he wasn’t the only one who struggled for England last night, and Gareth Barry also found the going very tough in that first 45 minutes, and was taken off at the break.
The 6’2″ Henderson is a player who does all the basic stuff great, and is an excellent all round footballer, and he will have learned a lot last night, which is one reason Fabio Capello wanted to take a look at the 20 year-old.
In the first half England could hardly get the ball, and when they did they then far too often gave it away, and France fully deserved to be 1-0 up at the break.
Carroll was efficient in what he did, and only once or twice in the game did he give the ball away, as he is quickly improving his hold-up game.
But you would have thought England had a 5’1″ striker leading the line, as England very rarely put any high balls into the penalty box, even though every time Andy went up for a header, a Frenchman was left sprawled on the ground, with Carroll usually having won the ball in the air.
Andy played for 75 minutes, a little longer than we expected, before he was replaced by Cardiff’s Jay Bothroyd.
In the second half France went further ahead until Peter Crouch got an opportunist late consolation goal for England.
After the game, England manager Fabio Capello said the following:
“It is important for me that some young players play here at Wembley against a good team like France.” “In this friendly fixture it was important to know the value of the young players.”
“I told the players it is different to play with the Under 21s than to play here against France.” “In the first half France played better, in the second half we played better.”
Last night was the very first time England had ever lost at the new Wembley Stadium.
Comments welcome.
6 comments so far
g.s.tooner
Nov 18, 2010 at 2:17 AM
Comment #11st comment 🙂
was very impressed with Carrol. I hope he will continue to grow as a player for us and that he honours his Newcastle heritage and doesn’t f*** off to some “big” club.
Howay the lads
baro
Nov 18, 2010 at 4:48 AM
Comment #2A true Geordie 4 3ver! Love this young superstar. A future world class player. Great debut for top England side, and he will only get BETTER! There is no way he will turn his back on us and leave. Great debut, just hope he is fit to play against Bolton this weekend.
Charlietoon
Nov 18, 2010 at 6:13 AM
Comment #3I am glad he got the time out. Fingers crossed he can back it up at Bolton. I hope we start Ranger with him as I’d like to see him get some with his feet and it might be nice to see someone holding the ball up or knocking it down for Andy. I think its part of his game he needs to develop as he needs to be a danger on the ground as well as in the air.
Rotonda heights
Nov 18, 2010 at 8:26 AM
Comment #4England were absolutely outclassed by a team who can actually pass the ball !
England just like us against Blackpool, Blackburn, Stoke, Wigan and Fulham had no plan B, other than launch it at Carroll and were so, so predictable.
Carroll is better than that and has some pace and no little amount of skill either. Someone should be showing him how to make runs behind the defence, not just hold his hand up for the big ball all the time, otherwise he will suffer at that level, because lets face it, England have no real class playmakers.
I think Carroll has what it takes, but he needs someone who can work on him technically (Beardo anyone ?) and it needs Hughton / Capello to tell the other players to stop firing aimless 60 yeard balls in his general direction as that’s just going back to the dark ages.
spanishtoon
Nov 18, 2010 at 9:17 AM
Comment #5Hi everyone! I thought that Carroll did very well considering the terrible level of service that he received. Just a point of interest….i was in Portugal recently on business talking to a football fan. I am assured that Hugo Viana is still operating and still rubbish ha ha.
I hope I’m not breaking any rules doing this but there is a guy called Robbie Davids who is a football journo here in Spain – english guy – and he’s just started a blog
http://www.postmatchpint.wordpress.com
I don’t know him personally but I’ve always like his rants! Always good to share good blogs! Anyone know anymore?
G
Nov 18, 2010 at 10:14 AM
Comment #6AC had a decent debut, and I hope he is fit when he comes back, and I also hope that this appearance does not go to his head. RH hit the nail on the head like when he describes the midfield battle. France had 100% domination in the centre of the field.