England started well with a fluent 4-3-3 system that gave Steven Gerrard a free roaming role, often dropping deep but always looking to push up to support of the loan striker, Wayne Rooney. But by half-time the initial enthusiasm and head of steam had run out, and England left the pitch to a chorus of boos.

Four changes were made by Fabio Capello at half-time.  Michael Dawson, Kieran Gibbs, Ashley Young and Bobby Zamora for Ashley Cole, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Theo Walcott; and second-half substitutes saw Wayne Rooney replaced by James Milner and Steven Gerrard, after scoring England’s two goals for the 18 year old debutant, Jack Wilshere.

Wayne Rooney was substituted midway in the second-half while England was 1-0 down to the biggest boo of the night.  Rooney had become frustrated as England’s midfield increasingly left him isolated.

Phil Jagielka looked comfortable in central defence and of the debuts and young players on show for England, in what has been dubbed ‘the beginning of a new dawn’, Kieran Gibbs made a great impression in both defending and rushing forward when he replaced Ashley Cole.  And though he made a nuisance of himself with darting runs and a couple of decent crosses from the right-hand side, I still believe Theo Walcott shows naivety and immaturity by continually running into defenders or cul-de-sacs when he should have his head up, looking to pass the ball.

But like Fabio Capello, who didn’t once get out of his seat, let alone stand in the technical area, throughout the whole match, let’s not get over excited to see England looking to its passionate youth.  After all, this is only a meaningless friendly match.

Next month England will begin their Euro 2012 Qualifying campaign, and it is only then that we will see if Fabio Capello is ready to back younger players like Ashley Young, Adam Johnson, Kieran Gibbs and Jack Wilshere. Though it looks likely he is going to make Joe Hart his first choice goalkeeper, as long as Manchester City is prepared to show similar faith. Hart had a good game and looked ready to pull on the vacant England gloves.

Booathon: the right to boo England

I defend the right of any paying supporter to boo an England player or an England performance and do not want to be told I can’t, shouldn’t or am a moron for doing so.

For those of you familiar with my football posts, you will know I have stood up against the moral majority on more than one occassion to defend the right of any paying supporter to boo an England player or an England performance.

Over the past few days the media have been full of players, ex-players, football writers, commentators and presenters suggesting it is disgraceful to boo players of your own team.  Why?

The excellent and controversial Radio 5 Live football commentator, Alan Green overstepped the mark on last Saturday’s 6-0-6 radio football phone-in by calling those who booed, morons.  That annoyed me.

A spectator of any sport should be able to vent their dissapoinment or disdain for a player or players in the same way as they can show their excitement and appreciation.  My only cap on this is anti-racist, sexist, homophobic views, or any unsuitable language in the presence of children.

The one difference between the members of the media and ex-players that have jumped to Ashley Cole’s defence, and spectators who agree with the freedom of speech and the right to ‘boo‘ a bad performance or passage of play, is that those spectators pay money to watch the game.

It’s not a new phenonemen in football; and its not a practise exclusive to football.  Boxing is another example where I have heard spectators boo the fighters or the actual event when they feel they have wasted their money.

So, it was with great pleasure that I listened to Danny Baker on Radio 5 Live yesterday evening as he encouraged all fans to make a stand on Saturday by ‘booing‘ for 30 seconds at kick-off; and then every 10 minutes thereafter, in what he describes as the great football booathon.

In truth, I think it would be a more successful ‘boo-a-thon‘ if it were arranged for the next England game, tonight away to Belarus, as it is the performances offered by a ‘golden generation’ of millionaires when they put on the England shirt that frustrates supporters and not the top quality performances that those same players generally put in for their respective teams week in and week out.  The England players will no doubt help the cause as best they can by failing to score against Belarus for as long as possible!

I for one support Danny Baker’s Booathon, though I think there will be repercussionos at Radio 5 Live and he may find himself sacked by the station for a ground-breaking record third time.

Boooooooooooooooooo!