McClaren 4 Greece 0

England 4
John Terry 14
Frank Lampard 30
Peter Crouch 36,42

Greece 0
Old Trafford Attendance - 45864

So McClaren's new England team trounced the Greek's with apparent ease at Old Trafford. Beckham was not missed it seems. Steven Gerrard played a man-of-the-match performance at right midfield. So much for the drop Lampard, Gerrard must play in the centre brigade. Gerrard is just about the best utility player in the world right now.

England Defence
John Terry scored on 14 minutes in his first game as captain. Coral Bookmakers had Terry at only 14/1 to score first, an amazingly short price for a centre back. The bookies must have written the Terry script, because things are going swimmingly for Terry at club and country, without the bookmakers getting their fingers burnt.

The other defenders played well. Goalkeeper Robinson had a little to do, looked good when called upon late on. Rio Ferdinand even came forward more with the ball. It's about time. Cole and Neville were consistent and reliable as usual.

England Midfield
The midfield was solid. Hargreaves has turned into England's midfield rock it seems. No suprise really. It's not like the biggest team in Germany (bayern munich), would waste their time playing an English duffer for 3 seasons continuosly in the anchor-man role. Lampard scored, which is what we want. Downing played well at left midfield. I guess Joe Cole is a superior operator overall, but he is not an out-and-out left winger. Downing may play left mid a bit more under McClaren, who brought him through from the youth team to the first team at Middlebrough.

England Strikers
Up front, Crouch scored twice. That's 8 goals in the last 9 internatioals for Crouch. Ashton was booked to play, but broke his ankle in training, Ashton will do well to out perform Crouch at the moment, even if fully fit. Defoe played ok, which was nice for the player. I am sure he will show a bit more in future games, if McClaren gives him the chance.

England Blog Comment
Overall a good result for McClaren and the England team. Fingers crossed McClaren's footballing pedigree, coming through various clubs and jobs in the game, from player, to coach, to assistant manager under Sir Alex, to Boro manager, to the England manager pinnacle, will serve him and the 3 lions well for years to come. Venables as assistant can't hurt either. I thought he was on the FA's blacklist? I doubt McClaren is a yes man, based upon Venables presence alone.

# References
England 4 Greece 0
♠ FA Official - England 4 Greece 0 Match Report
♠ FA Official - England V Greece Player Statistics
♠ FA Official - McClaren Very Happy With Greece Vixctory
♠ BBC Pundits View - Alan Shearer, Lee Dixon, Ian Wright

Posted at 8:07 PM, Thursday, August 17, 2006

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1 Comments

I'll say the same thing I would have said if we'd lost, it's only a frickin friendly, and the Greeks were beyond woeful.

I remember the early days when Sven took over, for God's sake, the Sun newspaper even made a song up, hailing his genius.

I want to see if we're able to play as freely in a competitive match.

By Karen Scott, at 8:52 AM

GAMBLOG UK - WE ARE ENGLAND - McClaren 4 Greece 0

McClaren 4 Greece 0