Belarus 1 - 3 England

Well it could only get better after the appalling performance against Kazakhstan...or so I thought. Gerrard looking less the the lump of turb he was on Saturday, hammered home a great 30 yard opener after just 11 minutes, and things looked like they were looking up. Typically however, England then stopped playing. With Gerrard allegedly on the left of a 4-4-2, yet continually drifting ineffectually infield there was a huge hole on England's left hand side, yet we still continued to attempt to attack down that flank. This drew Heskey wide, leaving Rooney isolated in the box and Heskey with very little to aim at. The midfield were hopeless for the whole of the first half, not competing, allowing Belarus to skillfully play through them and heaping pressure onto the back four. This resulted in a deserved equaliser for Belarus just before the half hour, and England offered little up to half time. Capello obviously had some words and reorganised a little, as England came roaring back in the second half, with heskey bursting down the left and pulling back for Rooney to slot home. A few more half chances came and went, but England dominated, with Lampard sitting back and playing a quiet but effective role. Gareth Barry went missing for much of the game and I barely remember him getting a touch in the second half, and Walcott barely got the ball, England yet again failing to utilise his pace which was so devastating against Croatia and has subsequently been largely ignored. As the game went on, with still no balance on the left, some lovely combination play between Bridge, Rooney and Gerrard led to Rooney's second and England's third on 74 minutes, which killed the game. Gerrard should have scored fourth late on but after rounding the keeper and with the goal at his mercy, he poked his shot against the post from 5 yards. On the whole a much better performance from England against a classy side away from home, but there is still a long way to go.

England Player Ratings

James
Solid and could do nothing about the goal as Walcott lost his man and Brown ducked under the cross. 6

Brown
Made some good forward runs and provided some useful cover at the back, but his ball usage wasn't great, especially in the first half, and he was at least partly at fault for the goal. 6

Ferdinand
Strong defensive performance and built well from the back. Seemed more up for it than against Kazakhstan. 7

Upson
Much better performance from Upson who defended well and won a few headers in the Belarus box. 7

Bridge
Looked strong defensively and provided some width and cover on a woefully unbalanced left hand side, but not the same attacking proposition as Cole. 6

Gerrard
Scored a great goal and set up the third, but otherwise offered very little. Passing and possession was a massive improvement over Saturday, but in my opinion Lampard is much more effective for England with a proper left sided player like Joe Cole. Still, Gerrard is better than Downing I suppose. 6

Lampard
Not as busy as usual but was quietly effective in the second half holding the midfield allowing Gerrard to get forward. Some good forward runs and careful passing, but needed the freedom to attack to be at his best. Drop Gerrard. 6

Walcott
Another disappointing performace from Walcott, but again mostly down to the fact that England simply didn't get the ball to him. He is not getting enough touches or the right balls played to him which he can run on to. Looked dangerous when he could run at defenders, but again confidence seems to be ebbing away. 5

Barry
Was he even playing in the second half? Apparently he drifted over to the left but I can't remember him touching the ball. Lampard did most of the anchoring in midfield. 5

Heskey
Superb performance holding up play, winning headers, driving at defenders and creating the second goal. Probably deserved to score the header which hit the side netting and gave Belarus all sorts of problems. 8

Rooney
Great performance from Rooney - typically industrious, especially in getting back in the first half when the midfield didn't bother. Two well taken goals, the second was brilliant. probably just pipped Heskey to MoM. 8

Wright-Phillips (for Walcott)
Some great direct driving runs gave England a slightly different outlet on the right, although end product wasn't much of an improvement on Walcott. 6

Crouch (for Heskey)
Continued where Heskey left off, winning headers and putting himself about. Some nice touches too and had a half chance in the box after a Wright-Phillips run. 7

Beckham (for Rooney)
Only had a few minutes but did dig out a great cross to the far post from the byline, just missing Crouch.