Beckham coming home?

The rumour mill is running and some UK newspapers have begun to say that Beckham will be basing his family back in London, but the he will not be playing for a premiership team.
As might be expected, top of the heap for speculation is the aborted move to PSG, it may be back on and Beckham will be able to 'commute' to Paris (approx. 280 miles) by Eurostar, although I am sure a helicopter ride may be more in keeping with the Beckham lifestyle.
Any further rumours and developments will be reported here, so keep checking back...

Beckham Speculation

Speculation is gathering over what Beckham will do when his Galaxy/MLS contract is over at the end of this season, the options are many and various, and I don't imagine that an early decision will be forthcoming.

Variants of the options open to Beckham are:

• To take on an MLS franchise - this option was in place at the start of the 5-year contract, and still remains a distinct possibility even if he chooses to play or even manage elsewhere (other than the US of course) - his kids are settled stateside, and he may not want to move them on. Obviously this option has been on the table for a long time, and will probably be a contender although not many speculators are favouring this option.
• Paris St Germaine - Ex-AC Milan boss Leanardo (who bought Beckham to Serie A for a short spell) has voiced his interest in signing Beckham
• Tottenham Hostpur - would probably be the club that Beckham would consider if the Premier League still interests him. Naturally, if he performs at the top of his game in the Premiership, he would be considered for further England appearances, though it has to be said that Cappello is not short of young English talent at the moment.
• QPR - have thrown their hat into the ring, but in all honesty, I don't think they have the profile that Beckham will want - the same goes for any clubs in The Championship - he won't want to give the impression that he is dropping down the 'ladder' in order to get a game.
• Naturally, there are those that would like to see Beckham remain as an LA Galaxy player, and that is certainly an option.
• Arsenal - are in trouble at the moment and he also had a pre-season training session with Arsene Wenger's squad in the past - Wenger may view Beckham as a valuable acquisition, although this would be uncharacteristic - football is a funny game. In any case, it seems likely that if he were to return to the Premiership (and Sir Alex was not interested..) then it would surely have to be to a London club.

Personally, I would like to see him back in the Premiership, which really means him coming to Spurs under Harry Redknapp, this is made more likely by the 'pre-season training' he undertook with Spurs. There has also been speculation about involvement in the UK squad for the Olympics, and coaching/management which could come to fruition under Redknapp's guidance (especially as Rednapp is a strong contender for the England job). I have always thought that it would make sense to take on an MLS franchise, but as a club owner, he would still be free (in theory) to have a 'job' in another league without conflict of interest - this would enable his family to remain in LA.

There are a lot of 'balls' to juggle, and at the end of the day, he must make plans which suit his fitness, his ambitions and his family (not necessarily in that order..)

August Catch up with Beckham

Apologies for the delay over posting, I have been away without adequate access to the internet to even keep myself updated let alone my visitors...

Let's Recap the salient points over the last few weeks:

25/08: LA Galaxy beat Costa Rican champions Alajuelense 2-0 (CONCACAF) at the Home Depot Centre, goals from Gonzalez (from a Beckham corner) and Barrett (from a move begun by Beckham). Unfortunately, Beckham picked up yet another yellow for delaying a restart - which must make him at least one of the most booked players of the season?

05/09: LA draw away to Kansas City 2-2 - a brace from Sean Franklin in a scrappy game that saw LA lose the advantage twice. Kansas were unlucky to have a goal ruled out for offside, but then lucky to get a penalty in the final minute for handball. Beckham gets another yellow and another assist, both Beckham and Donovan are closing in an an automatic ban - I think this will be Beckhams second of the season.

Next LA Galaxy game on Friday against Colorado at the Home Depot Centre..

Meanwhile England have been performing well in the build up to the European Championships, beating Bulgaria away 3-0, a young England are looking like they could easily off-load experienced players such as Lampard and Gerrard let alone Beckham and replace them all with fresh faces. This is an exciting time for England who face Wales tonight, however a successful qualifying run-in does not guarantee a great tournament as we well know. Meanwhile Robbie Keane had a disappointing return to international football missing a penalty in a draw with Slovakia. The Republic play Russia tonight in Moscow.

England 1 Ghana 1

A new-look England team took the field yesterday including Ashley Young and Andy Carroll up front, with Wilshere sitting in front of the back four. Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines were introduced along with Cahill at the back, Jolien Lescott joined them (for Johnson) at half-time.

Barry played in the middle with Wilshere, Downing took the right wing, Hart in goal.

The game started well with a lot of pressure coming from England, countered with a few good moves coming from Ghana, the crowd were vocal in support of Ghana especially when Asamoah Gyan was on the ball. After 30 mins Ashley Young slides in on a Milner cross and hits the bar when it would surely have been easier to score, Carroll is narrowly beaten to the rebound.

First senior international goal for Andy Caroll with after about forty minutes, Ashley Young finds Downing on the edge of the box - fails to gather it but instead leaves the ball for Carroll to strike sweetly into the back of the net on his favoured left foot. At this point England look good for the win and look likely to add to the tally.

The second half started with another good attempt from Young, slightly off-target with this one as it swings over the bar. Increasingly England look the more likely to score and eventually Welbeck and Defoe are brought on for Young and Carroll, Jarvis comes on for Wilshire. However it is inevitably Asamoah Gyan who scores the only other goal of the night to level things for Ghana.

A well-fought draw - fantastic 'visiting' crowd, exciting football, which is not always the case in internationals - and rarely in friendlies... Some things for Capello to consider - he has to be pleased with contributions from Young and Wilshere who have surely secured their places in the next squad. Carroll has his goal, but is not really contributing as much as he should, Lescott is a doubt for the future in my book - one silly foul he gave away could easily have been a penalty on close examination of the replay - also Baines went into too many challenges recklessly in my opinion.

Real Salt Lake 4 LA Galaxy 1

A day to forget for the Galaxy and Beckham contrasting with the success of the English national side in Wales. As England beat Wales 2 - 0 in the European qualifiers, Galaxy collapse away to Real Salt Lake giving away four goals before eventually getting one back through Angel.

The tally included two from within the box that should really have been dealt with by Galaxy defenders, a penalty about which there can be little argument and a drive over the keepers head from the edge of the box. Galaxy is still displaying weakness in defence as has been evident for the last few seasons. Of course, being a day for internationals, The Galaxy were also missing the fire-power of Landon Donovan.

Worth noting the Beckham hit the post from a free-kick, but this was largely due to a deflection that took the ball so far off-target, it is impossible to say whether the kick was good. The goal from Angel came from a Beckham free-kick, but was basically down to keeper-error as he misjudged the ball leaving Angel an open net - I'm not even sure Angel hit the ball with his foot, it looked more like it came off the knee.

LA and coach Bruce Arena have some serious work to do before hosting Philadelphia next week, in what will be their first match-up against this new team who lead the Eastern Conference with two wins out of two so far.

Denmark 1 England 2

I know I was a little late getting this up, but as Beckham was not even in the squad, it is not really a Beckham story.

The main points being England initially showed little prowess in defence when allowing a long cross to be headed beyond Joe Hart in the England goal early in the match. Just a minute or so later, Theo Walcott sends a cross in for Darren Bent that easily found the back of the net.

Only ten minutes gone and two goals scored 1-1.

The score remained the same going into the break, and a slightly changed side came out for the second half Scott Parker, Gareth Barry and Ashley Young introduced as direct replacements for Lampard, Rooney and Wilshere.

England began to take over in the second half and show some of that dominance that was a feature of their World Cup Qualifiers. With just 20 minutes to go, Glen Johnson went on one of his runs that found him with the ball at his feet on the edge of the box. He generously crossed the ball into the path of the oncoming Ashley Young who accurately passed the ball beyond Sorrenson in the Danish goal 1-2.

There were chances, but none that altered the score as England went home deserved victors, able to dominate even with a substantial injury list.

Beckham ready to sign for Tottenham

It is being widely reported that Beckham will sign for Tottenham over the weekend - Sunday is being named as the big day. Reaction is the usual polarisation that you expect - with celebrity being a large part of his life, commentators are not shy to give their opinion on this latest development.

this is undoubtedly good for Beckham, opinion is divided over whether it is good for 'Spurs.

Typically opinion is informed by how one feels personally about Beckham, the detractors think it is all about shirt sales, the more positive ones can see that Beckham could offer something tangible to the Premier League even if it is just for eight weeks.

Even after the eight short weeks, opinion will no doubt remain divided about whether the experience was positive or negative.

Beckham wins lifetime achievement award

An emotional Beckham accepted the BBC award tonight at the Sports personality of the Year 2010 awards ceremony. He thanked his coaches, making special mention of the way he looks up to Sir Alex Ferguson as a 'father-figure', and paid tribute to his fellow professionals.

He thanked his family, Victoria and the boys Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz were all there to see him collect the award from long time hero and 'Mr Manchester United', Sir Bobby Charlton. Old team-mate Ryan Giggs was also on hand to assist the presentation to celebrate Beckham's footballing achievements in both club and national teams.

England outclassed by France

England youngsters never looked likely to take control of this game, standing off far too much and giving France too much room. France, sensing the fear in the English players, had three shots within the first ten minutes - England had one free-kick taken by Gerrard, collected too easily by the French 'keeper.

At their seventh shot, France scored just quarter of an hour in, 1-0 France.

After 28 long minutes, England have their second strike on goal, straight to the 'keepers hands again.. At the end of the first half, England have been thoroughly outplayed and outclassed, 'lucky to get nil' as the old joke goes.

Almost unbelievably Capello then takes off two experienced players in Barry and Ferdinand, he also replaces Walcott with Adam Johnson - at least that was a sensible move. Walcott had two sniffs of the ball in the first half with little to show for it.

Just 9 mins into the second half, a ball crossed in from wide finds two French strikers in space, one of them scores and England are two-nil down. Only now do England show any spirit with Gerrard nodding a free-kick across the top of the goal. After 71 mins débutante Andy Carroll is replaced by Jay Bothroyd. A few minutes later Gerrard latches onto a loose ball in the box and shoots narrowly past the far post. 82 mins and Nasri nearly makes it 3-0 hitting the post, meanwhile Gerrard signals to the bench that he needs a replacement. Crouch comes on with 6 mins to go, he dangles a long limb in the air to guide an over-hit corner beyond the 'keepers reach. England have one back, Crouch has barely been on the pitch for 30 seconds. England are finally up and running but it is far too late, more chances come and go, but even five minutes of extra time cannot get England out of this mire. England lose 2-1 to France, and were lucky to only lose by the one goal.

Conclusions from this match are:

• England are missing some key players who are looking irreplaceable right now.
• Carroll looked a good prospect for the future, although what was asked of him on the night was probably unreasonable.
• Too many youngsters inexperienced at this level will not hold sway against a tight international outfit.
• Putting on the same shirt does not make you a 'team'....

Next round coming up...

The next play-off game for The Galaxy will be the semi-final against FC Dallas, on Sunday 14th November at 6pm PST ( Monday 2AM GMT) at the Home Depot Centre.

The other semi will be between San Jose Earthquakes and Colorado rapids on 15th, the final is scheduled for 8:30pm on Sunday 21st (1:30am Monday GMT)

In the meantime, England are due to play France in a friendly on Wednesday 17th November at home.

England V France

17th November 2010 at Wembley - I don't suppose the manager will be considering Beckham unless there is a real injury problem in midfield, but I wonder if he is aware that Beckham has already netted twice this month for The Galaxy?

England will need to step up the pace against France, although both teams seriously under-performed at the World Cup - with France taking a very early exit and 'imploding' very publicly.

When you consider recent form, this might actually be a good chance for England to pick up a decent win to take forward into the Euro qualifiers. The game is a friendly of course, so the result will count for nothing but pride - however pride seems to be what this team needs right now. I would be delighted if the chance were offered to Beckham, after all... few do 'pride' better than he, but I won't hold my breath especially as LA will be hoping to be progressing through the play-offs in two weeks time...

England 0 Montenegro 0

England start bright enough, Crouch is through after 2 mins but fails to get a toe to the ball, spurns the chance to open the scoring. After 8 mins a hopeful shot from Ashley Young flies over the top of the bar. On 15 mins, Gerrard takes a free-kick to G Johnson who sets up Crouch, Crouch heads a little high and wide. A strike by Ashley Cole is flapped at by the keeper who manages to keep it out of the goal. Several more chances come England's way, but on the whole England look a bit ponderous and slow despite their superior possession.

In the closing minute, G Johnson is put through, takes a bad decision, declining the shot - instead his pass is woeful, Rooney gathers the ball but cannot find the net through a sea of bodies. England are looking comfortable in the middle of the park, but Montenegro are not too bothered by English attacking moves which are plodding and uncertain.

The second half begins brightly like the first, Rooney shooting over from distance in the first few minutes. More swift moves follow, Gerrard passes straight through everyone from the right hand side, more pinpoint passes from Gerrard go begging. More free-kicks are earned and wasted (missing Beckham now...), but the only player really looking worth his salt for England is Gerrard. Unfortunately England are so ponderous, Gerrard is spending too much time in his own half.

69 mins, Crouch off for Kevin Davies who gets an early chance to cross from the right, corner won. Shortly after that Davies and Rooney combine, ball falls to Rooney, stunning save from the keeper denies him.

73 mins, Wright-Phillips on for Ashley Young, Wright Philips exercises the Montenegro defence on the left--hand side. On 83 mins a dipping Montenegro chance shot out of the blue beats Joe Hart (only time he has had to even move...) but thankfully hits the bar to avoid a disaster. More chances fall to England as the clock ticks away, more free-kicks wasted, Barry has a chance on his wrong (left) foot saved by the diving keeper - time finally runs out on a disappointing draw.

Nevertheless, you have to say, had this been a boxing match, England got a convincing points win... Sadly this is not how qualifiers work, and England have squandered a chance to establish themselves as Group leaders. The positives were that Montenegro had not one shot on target, at least England drew about four or five decent saves.

The bad news is that England look ponderous, Rooney looks bemused - the play was not incisive enough, there were plenty of chances but no joy.

Euro-qualifiers next week

England squad to face Montenegro on 12 October 8pm

Ben Foster, Robert Green, Joe Hart

Ashley Cole , Phil Jagielka, Glen Johnson, Rio Ferdinand, Joleon Lescott, John Terry, Stephen Warnock

Gareth Barry, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Tom Huddlestone, Adam Johnson, Aaron Lennon, Jack Wilshere, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ashley Young

Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Kevin Davies, Wayne Rooney

Some surprises in there, not least of which is the inclusion of Kevin Davies who will be hoping to pick up his first cap at the age of 33 - not a bad choice, but again this makes a nonsense of Capellos's declaration that he would be opening the door for younger players. I wonder how Michael Owen has taken the news?? a proven striker at the highest level performing well for his club, scoring goals and three years younger than Davies but seemingly not even on Capello's radar...!!

Switzerland 1 England 3

The same team that started at Wembley apart from the injured Dawson who was replaced by Lescott. Once more England showed their intent from the start and this time, the crowd had to wait only 10 minutes for a goal from under-pressure Wayne Rooney. The ball was cut back from the byline from Glen Johnson, Defoe and Walcott let it run to Rooney who neatly slotted it away. Walcott got his right ankle turned in the move and had to be taken off to be replaced by Adam Johnson.

England got into their domination groove and bossed the game for large portions of the first half. On 22 minutes, Defoe had a chance from an Adam Johnson cut-back, but skied the ball. This was followed by two more chances for Defoe five minutes later, the first from an Ashley Cole cross from the left flank (ball behind Defoe), the second from Milner as Defoe arrived a fraction of a second too late to get a contact.

After a brief flurry of possession from the Swiss, Rooney shoots from distance on 30 mins, but his shot loops lazily over the bar. Five minutes later, Adam Johnson inspired by his goal on Friday, takes a shot from distance, narrowly missing the target. On 42 mins, Defoe jigs left and right on the edge of the box, and shoots - it's a comfortable height for the keeper who punches away. A little later, Adam Johnson brings the ball a long way towards the goal, he looked like he might take it on his favoured left, but instead he slid it in for Rooney who couldn't find a way past the keeper - he turned and crossed for Defoe, but the little man was out-jumped by a defender.

The first half ended with England leading by Rooney's goal, looking in charge, but as we know, this team is more than capable of giving the opposition a chance to score at some point in the match. Hart had little to do, but needs to stay sharp and alert for the second half.

England start the second half well with Rooney setting up Adam Johnson for an ambitious volley which goes wide. A little later namesake Glen Johnson cuts onto his left and has a well-struck shot is pushed around the far post by the keeper. However England appear determined to let the Swiss back into the game and Hart has a nervy few minutes before Lichtsteiner takes Milner clean off the ball for a second yellow to get himself sent off. Challenges are getting harder as the Swiss try physical force to change the game and the English players reply in kind. Fouls and free-kicks are flying in and whilst Defoe limps towards the sidelines, Adam Johnson is released superbly by Gerrard and takes the ball round the keeper before scoring his second international goal in a matter of days. Defoe is stretchered off whilst England celebrate scoring two away goals. Only minutes later, 17 year old Swiss player Xherdan Shaquiri gets one back hammering the ball past Hart as Bent comes on to replace Defoe.

There is little more than 15 minutes left, the Swiss are down a goal and a player, but tails are up having just scored. It is up to England to establish control and re-establish a commanding lead. With 10 minutes to go, Wright-Phillips replaces Rooney, as England try to get a grip on the game. Wright Phillips gets a cross in from the left, the ball is left for Adam Johnson who shoots high and wide. Despite superiority in numbers, England are hanging on at this stage and failing to press home the advantage. Wright-Phillips had a chance running free on the right, but failed to get his cross to an unmarked Bent on the left for what would have been a tap-in.

Bent gets his chance on 87 minutes picking up on the left from a Wright-Phillips pass and firing home with his left, 1-3 to England. Wright-Phillips is again involved crossing for Milner who is narrowly beaten to the ball by the keeper. Right to the end, England are now pushing for more goals whilst the Swiss know the game is up.

Over-all, England have to be happy with the way they dominated the first half and the amount of chances they created, Capello is surely resting a little easier as England start to repeat their valiant efforts of their World Cup qualification run last year.

England 4 Bulgaria 0

First half:

Almost from the word go, England score through Defoe just two and a half minutes into the game at Wembley. Rooney picked up the ball outside the box taking it off Ashley Cole's feet, he chipped it perfectly back to Cole who had his shot saved, recovering, Cole passed across the box to Defoe who volleyed into the top of the net 1-0, England up and running.

That goal was the reward for the pressure exerted on the opposition right from the start, Bulgaria looked dazed for a while but England failed to really control the game in the early stages although they started to take more control after the first half hour or so. Chances came for Milner, Walcott and Defoe with little in reply from the Bulgarian team. Joe Hart looked confident between the sticks and was aware enough to gather up a mis-directed clearance from Glen Johnson.

Up front the early stages featured too many lofted passes and crosses from an English team that were never likely to dominate the air without a Crouch or Carlton Cole. Nevertheless, they made it to half time comfortably ahead by a goal - a nervous second-half could be avoided by slotting another couple of goals in, but England rarely do things the easy way!

Second Half:

The second half began in the same vein but was destined to develop much in the same way as one of Englands' recent World Cup qualifiers. Before the first five minutes were gone, Rooney attempted to chip the keeper who just managed to claw the ball over the bar. Just seven minutes later, Bulgaria narrowly missed the goal from a 'route one' move that caught the England backs napping. This was quickly followed by Dawson going down with a serious-looking knee injury, being stretchered off and replaced by Gary Cahill. Everything clicked into place on the hour mark, Hart punched away a decent effort into the path of Barry, Rooney picked up the ball distributing to Defoe inside the box who slides the ball through the legs of the keeper for two-nil.

On 74 minutes Adam Johnson comes on for Walcott who has not really delivered, a minute later Gerard delivers a shot that bounces off the keeper who manages to claw the ball away just as Defoe arrives. Five minutes later England on the break, Rooney to Adam Johnson playing on the right, who puts a well-struck shot wide of the far-side post. On 83 minutes after a few dangerous moments from Bulgaria again, Rooney again provides the ball to Adam Johnson, this time, he gets the ball inside the near-post for three-nil.

Only two minutes later, Defoe gets onto the end of a precision pass, shoots on the move with his left and scores his hat-trick, Englands' fourth of the night picking up an injury to his left ankle on the way. He is replaced by Ashley Young and England play out the game in front of a very happy England crowd, finally something to feel good about. Outstanding contributions from Rooney, Defoe and Joe Hart who looks every inch a seasoned international keeper after only his first full game. Great contributions from players like Adam Johnson, James Milner and the whole team on a night when the French revival fails at the first hurdle losing at home to Belarussia....

Beckham ready to play again...

Beckham is looking forward to playing for the LA Galaxy against Columbus Crew on 11 September.
After being given a 1 October return date, he is hoping to feature in part of the game against Columbus if progress continues positively over the next week: "I'll be on the bench and hopefully I'll get on the field for 15-20 minutes," he told the Galaxy website.

This coupled with the apparent reconsideration on the part of Capello, could bode well for a return to the international squad in the not-too-distant future.

The current squad is preparing to face Bulgaria tomorrow, but has been depleted significantly due to injury ruling out the likes of Lampard, Terry, Crouch and Lennon. Scott Carson has been released from the squad because of a family bereavement, however it is thought he may return for the following game on Tuesday in Switzerland.

Capello will consider Beckham for England

Fabio Capello seems to have reconsidered his very public 'writing off' of David Beckham after telephoning him and speaking personally. His normal stance is not to talk directly with players, but made an exception in this case. His relationship with the players has been cited as a cause of unrest, and his detached air may be an issue for the future if not resolved, but equally, players should have respect for their manager and his methods.

Capello has said that if Beckham gets fit and is playing regular football, he will consider him for the squad even though his recent emphasis has been on youth in the squad. Although it sounds like a sound policy, I would reiterate my view that as an Englishman, I am not concerned with age so much as ability to win games. There is a place for youthful exuberance in the squad, there is also a place for experience, but most of all, there should always be space for talent regardless of any other boxes that are ticked or un-ticked.

Capello has written David Beckham off twice now, for Madrid and for England. He was proven wrong in excluding him from the Madrid team, and hopefully Beckham, will get a chance to prove him wrong again.

Will Beckham play again?

Despite Capello and Allegri writing off the career of David Beckham whilst he recovers from his ankle injury, training is progressing and we can be assured that Beckham will be looking to silence the critics as soon as possible if not sooner...
In the meantime, West Ham have apparently renewed their surely hopeless quest to bring Beckham back to the Premiership, and it is even less likely that Beckham would entertain an offer from the new owners of Blackburn Rovers who are equally keen to have him on their books...

The story from LA is that Beckham has resumed normal training with his Galaxy team-mates carrying out the same routines and drills as everyone else. Far from being completely out of rehabilitation, LA coach Bruce Arena has stated that it's too early to expect to see Beckham playing competitively in the next few weeks. Nevertheless, it is clear that Beckham will be keen to get back on the pitch and demonstrate his skills, it is equally clear that it will be in Galaxy colours rather than a Premiership or England national team strip.

Rather than accept retirement on Capellos terms, it is thought that Beckham could make the proposed game between LA Galaxy and Manchester United next Summer his final game on English soil. However, talk of retirement is not really on the agenda whilst David gets himself ready to turn out to help The Galaxy get to the play-offs again - right now, LA are in a commanding position 4 points clear of Real salt Lake at the top of the Western Conference league table.

Beckham 'too old' for England

Fabio Capello appeared to end David Beckhams long international career last night when questioned about his place in the new set-up. Keen to emphasise the new blood in the England squad, Capello was seen to be agreeing with the view that Beckham is too old to win his place back in the team.

Of course, the fact that Beckham is past his very best is not in question, but it seems to me that there are two observations to be made about the Capellos comments:

• With Beckham recovering from injury, not present at the press conference and obviously not informed in advance - this was not the time or place to publicly 'retire' the most capped outfield player that England has ever had. Capello still displays a lack of tact and diplomacy, an attitude that seems to have had a telling effect on the England squad of late.
• Age seems to have been Capellos prime criteria rather than ability, this implies that a younger less-talented or gifted individual would get the nod before Beckham simply because of his age. Maybe Capello thought that saying Beckham was old was kinder than saying he wasn't playing at his best, but to be fair, no-one knows how well Beckham is going to play when he has recovered from his injury - Capellos timing is atrocious when you consider the lengths Beckham will be prepared to go to in order to serve his team and country.

Capello survived World Cup failure, and frankly, I was glad to see him retain his position - whether he will survive treating Beckham like this is another matter...

England 2 Hungary 1

This new look England team, with a new formation started the game well retaining 100% possession for the first 5 minutes or so right from the kick-off. Yet the longer they went without scoring, the more anxious fans and players became.

However, in the first few minutes Rooney had the ball in the net shortly before realising he had been flagged for off-side. Other chances came for this team which included the likes of Walcott, Jagielka, Adam Johnson and Joe Hart in goal (none of whom played in the World Cup). Walcott was a revelation, skipping past players and even getting crosses in - one lovely cut-back saw Adam Johnson uncharacteristically fire over the bar from close range.

England played efficiently and dominated the first half, which finished 0-0, nevertheless the fans were not delighted...

The second half saw the introduction of more new blood in the form of Keiran Gibbs, Bobby Zamora, Ashley Young and Dawson. It was just 15 minutes into the half that saw Dawson make an error, going to ground and allowing Zoltan Gera space in front of goal. The resulting pass and shot was deflected towards the goal, Dawson came flying in to make amends by clearing the ball milliseconds before crossing the line, but the linesman had already flagged and the goal was given. England 1-0 down, it wasn't as blatant as Lampards effort against Germany, but now England have suffered through linesman error in two games on the trot...

This goal (as so often happened in the World Cup qualifiers) animated England, Milner came on for Rooney (no doubt an hour was the limit stipulated by Sir Alex..), and a few minutes later Gerrard found himself in a bit of space 25 yards from goal and struck the ball with venom into the left-hand corner, 1-1 and game on!

4 minutes later and Gerrard scored again, this time using exquisite skills in the box rather than brute force, forcing his way through defenders and poking the ball past the keeper to seal an England victory - Dependable Gerrard, a 30-year-old in a team of youngsters, stepping up when Rooney had left the field - what a night for the England captain.

All-in-all, a solid performance to settle the nerves, Adam Johnson will surely be scoring his first goal in an England shirt fairly soon, he had the chance to play both on the left, and on the right and looked good. Walcott looked good, Gibbs looked good, Gerrard was inspired, Zamora had a great chance in the closing minutes tipped over the bar, as did Adam Johnson. Hart stood up well to deny Gera a late equaliser for Hungary - the only question is whether Rooney is really in the right place mentally when he puts on the shirt in the current England line-up...