England have drawn 1-1 in Warsaw with their Polish counterparts in a scrappy affair. England will be pleased to come away with a point after Wayne Rooney’s header gave them the advantage before Kamel Gilk levelled the scoring, both goals coming from corners. Phil Jagielka was our man-of-the-match for keeping Robert Lewandowski quiet but how did everybody else fair?
Joe Hart: 5
Hart has been in great form recently but he had a sloppy moment for Poland’s goal. He came at the ball half-heartedly when he should have remained on his line. Although if he had it still would have been a difficult header to save.
Glen Johnson: 6
Again he seemed asleep at times. His pace helped him out on a few occasions when covering form his own mistakes but I lost count of the amount of times he just let the ball roll out of touch.
Joleon Lescott: 5
He dawdled around the pitch at times and he was out manouevered by Kamel Gilk for Polands equaliser. Clearing headers were poor and lucky for Glen Johnson’s pace when he timidly went in for a tackle with Robert Lewandowski.
Phil Jagielka: 8 – Man of the Match
Apart from one wobble on a bad pitch at the start of the second half Phil Jagielka laid his claim to the number one centre back spot with a fine performance. Important tackles, blocks, headers and clearances galore in a performance that kept the widely touted Lewandowski at bay.
Ashley Cole: 5
His 99th appearance for England and one of his rare bad games. Struggled early on letting Pisczek get the better of him but his general play was sloppy at best. Surely only a temporary blip and will be back on sterling form for his century.
Michael Carrick: 5
Too slow to move the ball and when he did it was often to the wrong player, a Polish player. Not good enough and he needs to improve in England colours.
Steven Gerrard: 7
Used the sodden surface to his advantage at times with a couple of rangy passes and did his best to control the tempo. His whipped in delivery created the goal.
James Milner: 7
Worked tirelessly down the right-hand side and is fast becoming England’s unsung hero out on the that flank in midfield.
Tom Cleverley: 7
He seems to be on a different wavelength to the rest of the team, a better wavelength as his passing is accurate and he works the sort of channels that are needed in international football. Solid performance once again.
Wayne Rooney: 6
Avoids a five because he scored the goal but this was not the performance you wanted from Rooney who looked disinterested from an early miss-control. Should have added a crucial second goal and spent the majority of the game playing a ridiculous first time attempt to James Milner that didn’t work.
Jermain Defoe: 6
Worked hard but when Rooney went deeper he struggled in a lone-role. Missed a good chance from a corner to wrap up three points.
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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 6
Showed plenty of endeavour after making an entrance but had little time to make a genuine impact.
Danny Welbeck: 6
He is pushing Defoe for the first team spot and laid the ball on a plate for United team-mate Wayne Rooney. Might be pushing for a start in the next fixture.
What are your thoughts on the individual performances in Warsaw?
images: © PolandMFA, © Piotr Drabik
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