Jamie Carragher

RE: As you're an England afficianado

I wouldn't say that Crouch got 'found out' by the Macedonia game. To be honest, as a centre forward, he didn't get much quality to feed off. There was a chance that he should have squared away to defoe later on, but other than that, there wasn't much to blame him for - as I've already said, he's not playing the long balls forward. I'm sure he would have preferred it if Downing had got his arse into gear and made it to the line occasionally to cut a ball back. Likewise, if the supply from the right had been better, Crouch was as likely as anyone to score a goal. On the floor Crouch has good feet, and is always surprising defenders with how quickly he can turn and how subtle his touch can be. The fact that the England team give in to temptation and end up pumping a high ball in is the fault of the manager. The alternatives at the moment aren't much better than Crouch - Defoe, Andy Johnstone (injured) and a young and inexperienced Walcott (who has yet to do anything outstanding at senior level in the top domestic league, no matter how good his recent goals were against a junior Germany side). An England side should be disciplined enough to play proper passing football regardless of how tall the centre forward is - his height should be an advantage, not a problem.

The players are good enough (at least the full strength team is) - they were properly motivated, trained and managed during the world cup. Yes they let us down, but lets not throw the baby out with the bath water.