Theo Walcott limped off injured at half time during England’s 6-3 win over the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia this evening. The electric frontman suffered a dead leg and was pulled off in front of a 20,074 crowd at the Ricoh Arena.
Kieran Gibbs and Jack Wilshere both started for Stuart Pearce’s Under 21’s and the former got the rout going after a superb team move. Tom Cleverley found Walcott following an excellent cross-field ball from Jack Rodwell, and as Theo raced towards goal, the 20-year-old stood up a cross at the back post where Gibbs was on hand to nod over the line.
Eight minutes later number two arrived. Wilshere’s corner was flicked on by Michael Mancienne and Micah Richards thumped home a second. Betim Aliju was then credited with a Macedonia goal following a scramble on a free kick and it was 2-1 at the break.
West Ham youngster Zavon Hines replaced Theo at half time and it appeared England had lost their way on 52 minutes when Chelsea’s Mancienne slipped and allowed Ibraimi to make it 2-2. But it only lasted two minutes before Andy Carroll headed Gibbs’ cross home to put the hosts back in front. Yet in a sincilating second period, back came the visitors. Ibraimi’s drilled corner caused chaos in the box and Kieran Gibbs, who was standing on the goal line, turned into his own net. 3-3.
The Three Lions could have slipped to defeat after that but they regained their composure and went on to bulldoze Macedonia. Hines grabbed a brace either side of another Carroll goal.
A topsy-turvy fixture in terms of Arsenal, with Gibbs scoring in the right and wrong goals, Wilshere impressing but Walcott getting injured. Still, the future looks bright.
Article By – J.Sanderson
It’s no surprise that once they changed to a more conventional 4-4-2 that they started bossing the game. My impartial ratings (i promise):
Loach – 5 – Badly at fault for the first goal they scored. It was wet and all, but a good keeper should keep that out. Didn’t really make any decent saves. I know why Watford concede so many goals now.
Richards – 7 – Nothing special but whole-hearted. Made a few tackles, won a few headers. Same ol’ same ol’. I would have probably given him a 6 if he hadn’t scored. Should have got a second.
Tomkins – 7 – Better performance than Richards and Mancienne. Composed and dominates aerially. The only current CB in the under 21’s who i would say can eventually make the step up into the seniors.
Mancienne – 5 – Poor guy is a liability. I feel for him cos he’s young and still learning his trade but he’s been at fault for a few of the goals Wolves have conceded so far this year and he got ‘boyed’ for Macedonia’s second tonight. NO WAY a striker should just dump a CB on his arse like that. Whenever Drogba did that to Senderos, the poor guy got slaughtered in the press. Don’t hold your breath for the same to happen for Michael though – although the striker that did it to him isn’t one of the best and strongest around.
Gibbs – 8.5 – Badly sliced the ball into his own net but didn’t put a foot wrong apart from that. Add to that, he scored one, made one with a good, strong run down the left ending with a great cross, played a big part in goals number 5 and 6 and worked tirelessly up and down the left wing. Great all round performance.
Rodwell – 7 – Just sat there and shielded his back three. Kept it simple when in possession and even sprayed one or two passes about. Concedes silly free kicks at times though and needs to read the game better. I reckon AW and the Arsenal coaching staff would develop this boy into a world class player one day if he was at Arsenal. Moyes can only take him so far i feel, although i could be wrong – we’ll see.
Rose – 5.5 – Look, forget the fact that he’s a Spud. I’m judging him on what i saw today (i promise). Why is he there? I’ll tell you why. He produced a few decent performances for the under 19’s in the summer, Pearce received feedback from Eastick about it and Pearce gave him a chance with the under 21’s. He had a good game against the part-timers, Azerbaijan (who Gibbs scored twice against – or was it a hat-trick? I forget) and since then he’s been one of Psycho’s faves. He clearly isn’t ready for under 21 level….clearly. The only thing i would say about him is he has a great work ethic. He really works his bollocks off but lacks the necessary class for International football. I’m not saying this for obvious reasons but they might as well play Lansbury there. At least he’s getting regular appearances in the Championship these days so Pearce can’t use that as an excuse for not selecting him.
Wilshere – 8 – Great game for young Jack. He’s easily England’s most creative, imaginative player. He’s always looking to make things happen. You could see he wanted to do a lot of quick, interchange passing tonight but others weren’t reading it. Great trickery at times and great delivery from set-pieces. I know AW sees him as a central attacking mid in the future but i prefer him out on the right at this point in time, he’s devastating out there. Also, it must be said that he’s very selfless, this kid. Sometimes he needs to shoot instead of trying to set someone else up. A couple of times he was very well placed to have an effort on goal and tried playing in someone else. Could have easily got on the score-sheet tonight.
Cleverley – 8 – Clever player….see what i did there? Ha! In all seriousness though, great performance from Manure scum. He linked up well and his role in Gibbs’ goal was great. He also played a delightful ‘Wilshere-esque’ through ball for Hines’ first. Worked hard and helped out defensively. Needs to be quicker with his decision-making though. Missed a couple of good early passes and killed the momentum of potential moves.
Walcott – 6.5 – Didn’t do much in his 45 mins on the field but picked out Gibbs beautifully for his goal. Made one run down the right where he tried crossing for Carroll when i think he should have played Wilshere in on the edge of the box.
Carroll – 8.5 – Probably just shaded Gibbs to MOM. I must say that i saw this guy play a few times for the barcodes last year and i thought he was quite poor on all occasions. Never really rated him but he was fantastic at times tonight. He led the line really well. Held the ball up, flick ons were to team-mates instead of flicking it on just for the sake of fucking flicking it on (Yo Ade, you cunt – TAKE NOTE). He’s got a bit of technique for his size and he’s great in the air. Took both his goals really well, particularly the first and dinked a beautiful ball into Hines for his second. Two goals, one assist, led the line well and linked up well. Can’t really ask for much more than that. He would have got a 9 if he hadn’t missed that sitter when he blazed his volley over from 3 yards out.
Subs:
Hines – 7.5 – Scored two well taken goals on his debut so you gotta respect that. Also had a couple of funny air-shots (funny to me…and him). His pace caused them problems but didn’t get that involved with the general play. Still, well done.
Muamba – 6 – Didn’t do anything of note after coming on for the anonymous Rose except injure his captain (Richards) about ten seconds after entering the fray. He’s clumsy and lumbersome, but as strong as an ox, breaks up the play but needs to learn to be tidier in possession.
Welbeck – n/a – Came on for about 1 minute for Carroll and touched the ball once. At least he didn’t lose it….
Sorry fellas – Just felt compelled to do this for some reason. Anyway, that’s my two pence on what i’ve seen tonight.
Any news on walcott? If it was a dead leg he wont miss any games??
Good ratings mate, would have to agree with them all. Interested in Carroll, he seems to have a good level of technique for such a big man. Newcastle use him as a battering ram but he’s much more than that. Very raw though.
Exactly JS. I was impressed with him tonight. It would be interesting to see how he develops over the next few years. The way Newcastle deploy him is doing him no favours whatsoever though.
arsenalfc – Not necessarily mate. I got a dead leg playing for my club a couple of weeks ago which made me miss last weeks game. Some cases of having a dead leg take longer to heal than others.
Pearce play three at the back at home to Macedonia FFS!
This team has talent but is flawed and Pearce hasn’t a clue.
Harsh marks for Rose. He shouldn’t be in the squad nevermind the pitch but he wasn’t that bad.
I thought Wilshere was the best player on the pitch but he did make some ridiculous attempted tackles and with another ref could have been off.
Not sure about Carroll but he did well and the formation didn’t really suit him imo.
Loach isn’t up to it but there aren’t any other options. Probably best to give the best academy keeper a go and let him play for the U21’s for a while because Loach isn’t going to be good enough from what I have seen. Not sure if the best English academy kid will be either though which is the problem.
why do you have to swear when otherwise you write a good article
i am trying to get my grand son to read more (especially articles
about arsenal)how can i recommend that sort of language to a 7 year old no wonder we are producing a yob culture in football.
JW has got a bit of the nasty bastard about him too hasn’t he? :)
dooop23 – Rose looks like he doesn’t know what to do with the ball at times. Too hesitant and gives the ball away cheaply far too much.
I agree about Rose and as I said he shouldn’t be in the squad but I think you have docked him .5 at the least because he is a Spud ;)
Good shout that again TJ. I’ve always noted he has a tencious attitude. People kick him and he kicks them back, which is English spirit I would say. I wouldn’t mess with him.
o serious is walcott injury?
JS – The majority of the classy/flair players have that inner bastard about them. The list is endless…..just some examples are Bergkamp, Cantona, Rooney, Pires, Zidane, Scholes, Maradona and even Messi has developed a bit of a nasty streak lately. It’s like they get tackled/kicked/pushed/pulled and react like, ‘What!? How dare you? You know who i am? Here, have some of that!! I personally like that JW is like that, shows he’s no soft touch and can handle himself. When he got booked, i thought, shit he might get reckless and get shown a second yellow but i was also impressed with the way he kept his cool and didn’t make any more rash challenges – it just goes to show his maturity that’s so often talked about.
dooop23 – I don’t know mate….maybe subconsciously i did…. :)
BRIAN – I guess that’s aimed at me. My bad. I respect where you’re coming from and what you’re trying to do with your grandson and all. It’s a sad state of affairs when that sort of talk is what’s classed as ‘football talk’ nowadays. For what it’s worth, i’ll try and tone it down, so to speak.
Not FYROM Republic of Macedonia
To be fair to Danny Rose he is a left winger not a central midfielder.
Hi
Anu its really boring yaar……
Got to say I agree with Brian. Read your commentary and enjoyed it but the gratuitous swearing was just not necessary. Shouldnt this be monitored by you JS? This is such a great site and your input has added to the quality TJ just remember the kids are reading…!
grow a dick brian……. i joke im sorry.
Whole england setup is shi… ahem rubbish, pearce just dosnt have a clue. Sounds like theo had a diaspointing game though he should recover from a dead leg pretty quick.
Well well well. Interesting match. Gibbs was amazing, I am really starting to think he is better than Clichy, that is how good he was. He was basically LB, LM, LW and occasional striker at the same time. Amazing, his motor is the biggest since… Well, some huge motoring guy. Great crosses, good awareness, a couple of high through balls which just flabbergasted me, he has such potential. And a humble, grown-up guy, as far as I hear. He seems good odds to go to South Africa, anyone?
Wilshere was excellent, by far the best player (not of the night but by talent) this side has. He thought way to fast for Rose, Carroll and the otherwise very good Cleverley, who seems a good talent as well. Great dribbles, good passes, very good corners, and only 17. Has a nasty edge, which I really like. I think how he kicks back will be very important if he is to go to South Africa, though he would not be playing yesterday if Capello had not wanted it: he is clearly in his head.
I do not get everyone’s appreciation for Carroll. He was cumbersome, slow, powerful and selfish. He could have given better passes, scored at least two more, was not very supportive, just gave some fancy flick ons. Did not impress me as much as to give him an 8 (probably a 7). Same goes for Hines: scored two with apblomb, but those were arbitray, easy finishes, and he scuffed, missed, or otherwise made a hash of everything else.
Rodwell remains excellent although today he was a bit crab like: sideways all the time. Mancienne is a liability, and a joke: how he is still a Chelsea player, and got an England call-up last year, is beyond me. Terrible player surrounded by hype. Gotta hate that.
I say Gibbs, Rodwell and Wilshere for South Africa. Gibbs is better than Bridge and can also play midfield, Rodwell is great cover for central defence and midfield, and Wilshere has the same talent, ability, pure god-given footballism, of any young player I ever saw, including Messi, Rooney and the real Ronaldo. (or more talent) He could unlock a match with one movement of the foot, which this side might need. I am jealous of your talent, as most places. We Dutch play f-ing Jeffrey Buma in defence, the Chelsea idiot who is worse than Mancienne. And our most creative attacker, Barazite, is left on the bench. Trust me, the English are not the only ones who hate their coaches…
Anyone have a view on South Africa?
Haho – ‘Terrible player surrounded by hype. Gotta hate that.’
That’s been the case with many England players over the past 20 years or so.
Looking back at it, i probably should have given Hines a 7, i think i gave him a 7.5 cos it was his debut. I stand by Carroll though, i thought he was absolute kak whenver i saw him play before yesterday but he had a good game, not great, but he led the line well and brought others into the game. He should have scored one or two more though, like you say.
Just on the swearing thing – There’s been a lot of swearing on this blog for ages now and the ‘kids’ that read it are all in secondary school and mere ‘swear words’ used on this blog and others is nothing compared to what many of them are up to nowadays. It’s just when BRIAN said he encourages his 7 year old grandson to read these blogs, it really puts it into perspective and that’s too young a mind to warp – that’s why i held my hands up to it.
Haho – I forgot to say – That’s the only three (Rodwell, Gibbs and Wilshere) who i feel have a realistic chance of going to South Africa right now from the under 21’s setup – and for the reasons you state.
I know Capello’s a big fan of JW. In fact, the only reason why he’s currently playing for the under 21’s is because Capello demanded he be fast-tracked. Come on, did anyone else think it was Pearce’s genius idea to inject a bit of flair and creativity into this side?
If Wilshere is playing awesome in CL and PL games then he will probably get a call-up. But we have 2 great england wingers in the team. Walcott and Wilshere. I feel wilshere is such a bigger talent than walcott is and can be so damn good in a couple of months from now on. I have a feeling that wilshere is a better choice than walcott in the wings becouse of his vision. I am pretty sure he knows how to play easy by now. I also have a feeling that Gibbs will be ahead of Cole anytime. When eboue leave I hope to see wilshere get playing time. I hope he will be a regular in the FA cup squad. His vision and quick thinking is exceptionall.
Shocking tactics, he is playing 3-5-2 with wrong type of players. 3-5-2 requires you play through midfield ala 4-3-3 because the 3 in midfield but he then puts Rodwell who always plays square & a winger pace merchant with no close & poor touch [Danny rose] alongside Wilshere. He needs players in 3 that can play conmbination game and can defend. Otherwise the he need to play change to 4-4-2, English coaches seems forget a very basic rule of tactics, [players make system NOT system make players] if you dont players to play a particular type of system then dont do it, play a system that fits your players.
Jack Wilshere is an amazing player and should probably be going to South Africa with the senior squad if Arsene Wenger plays him more often. People worry about “burnout” but whatever happened to the saying if your good enough your old enough, I mean Walcott got to go to the last World Cup but to be fair age isnt a problem now its just his ability.
Excellent report and rankings from TJ – most useful for a Goon in a rush. Nice one.
So excited about Jack. I have a bet (for a nifty) with an Everton-supporting mate that he’ll get a full England cap before Jose Baxter. Bet was made about 18 months ago. In the bag, methinks.
this, from the article to the comments, has been a thoroughly good read. even included a civilised debate about swearing!! so thank you to all involved. I especially liked TJ’s ratings – you should have a blog! if anyone is interested, here are the gooals:
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/3614974/
Oh, and ‘Julian H’ – you’re right – that bet couldn’t be more safe. Just a word of advice: when you do win the bet, which you inevitably will – check that its not some of that counterfeit money…
something serious has to happen to Jack if Baxter is to get a full cap before him. Especially after Baxter getting into some trouble lately.
its far too early to take wilshere to s.africa but gibbs is my outside bet..if cole or bridge get injured then i dont see any better l.back??…he is better then clichy for the simple fact he has a end product!..also he is extremely calm on the ball-he can play equally well at left mid and if we was desperate(arsenal that is) then he could play centre mid…on a negative note-am i the only one in the country who doesnt get walcott!..hes a 1 in 5 player..just runs really quickly till he gets to the byline then gives it away..OR gets injures something very minor and sits out for a month!..this may seem harsh and he does have his moments(liverpool/milan) but really???..wilshere would be much more effective for arsenal even at this stage
Big fan of gibbs but I dont think he is ready defensively. Played very well today and offensively much better than clichy, but defensively still very naive. Not saying that Clichy is great though because defensively he also has lapses.
Oh, and ‘Julian H’ – you’re right – that bet couldn’t be more safe. Just a word of advice: when you do win the bet, which you inevitably will – check that its not some of that counterfeit money…
Hahaha…that’s quality.
I’m glad people enjoyed my analysis.
dn – Macedonia had a couple of tricky players and on a couple of occasions in the last twenty mins Gibbs was faced up, one on one with one of these guys and didn’t commit, just watched the ball and took it. This impressed me a lot as i thought the guy would turn him inside out as Gibbo aint really known for his defensive qualities. He still has a lot of improving to do, on all fronts, but he can be a top, top LB someday.
good analysis TJ. The only thing I disagree is Wilshere’s best position. Don’t get me wrong, he’s great on the right wing, but I really enjoy when he plays in the middle, in the hole. He can be even more creative there
Anyway, what a talent we have here
Walcot is a unique player. When he came on against blackburn the tactics was good. Put it over the top agains the high line of defneders and let him run it down. He will do well. He has ONLY his pace so far to offer, BUT we can use it to our advantage. Walcott is nothing withought his speed RIGHT NOW. BUt i hope they use him when teams play hi lines and then just put it over the top or on the flanks
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