No Slovaks, Bulgarians or Dutch in here…it's setanta.com’s selection of the Home Nations’ best performers.
No Slovaks, Bulgarians or Dutch in here…it's setanta.com’s selection of the Home Nations’ best performers over the weekend.
Whilst England enjoyed a friendly excursion in every sense of the word, the northern and southern quarters of Ireland, Scotland and Wales all played World Cup qualifiers.
Our reporters dished out ratings to every player involved in the games and then, cunningly, we picked out the best XI. As if by magic, here it is.
There’s a form at the foot of the page that’s there for one reason and one reason only – whether you agree or disagree with our selections, it’s for you to let us know.
Goalkeeper: David James – England
If only Artur Boruc was eligible. There really can be no skirting the issue here – James makes the cut purely by default. With England being the only one of the Home Nations to keep a clean sheet, the only competition came from Ben Foster – he who had a quieter second half than the England physio. James made one particularly good stop from the man, the legend Miroslav Karhan.
Right Back: Glen Johnson – England
This position is looking more and more like his to lose. Gary Neville’s advancing years, Micah Richards’ defensive naivety and Wes Brown’s Wes Brownness means that Johnson is looking increasingly like Fabio Capello’s preferred choice. The Portsmouth man was superb on Saturday..not putting a foot wrong at the back and combining splendidly with those in front of him.
Centre Backs: John O’Shea and Richard Dunne – Republic of Ireland
At Croke Park on Saturday there was a palpable fear when it was announced newcomers John O'Shea and Richard Dunne were to be paired at centre-back. In fairness to them, the pair made up for the absence of defensive colossus/liability Paul McShane - shunted out to right-back to replace a crocked Steve Finnan, he replacing a crocked Stephen Kelly - with an excellent display. Dunne scored Ireland's only goal of the game, while O'Shea pitched in with a supreme last-ditch tackle to deny Dimitar Rangelov. At 27 and 29 respectively, keep an eye on these two. You heard it here first.
Left Back: Jonny Evans – Northern Ireland
Imagine the pickle Sir Alex Ferguson would have found himself in had he given into Sunderland’s persistent overtures for this man. Evans might still look like he’s just emerged from the United Under-12s but he really does seem to have quality written all over him….not literally, we hasten to add. His first goal for his country arrived at Windsor Park on Saturday and, shockingly, Boruc could not be blamed.
Right Midfield: David Beckham – England
How some chap who rides round and round in circles for a living has become a Knight of the Realm and this man hasn’t, I will never know. I’ve nothing against ‘Sir’ Chris Hoy but honestly, how? So let us now all arise for Mr Beckham and scoff at those who say he no longer brings anything to the party. As if we needed any reminding, Becks duly obliged with yet another precious Wembley cameo.
Centre Midfield: Grant McCann – Northern Ireland
All those England managers who have struggled to solve the Lampard-Gerrard conundrum….if only they’d had one Grant McCann to choose from. Our reporter tell us that he did nothing less than ‘boss the midfield’ against Poland…the Michael Essien of Northern Ireland perhaps?
Centre Midfield: Frank Lampard – England
One can only wonder where Lampard would come in Zinedine Zidane’s partly-compiled chronicle of the world’s best footballers. Mr Stevie G tops said list according to quotes recently attributed to the Frenchman but, like it or not, his England midfield colleague cannot be too far down the reckoning. Slovakia was not his best display in an England shirt but he was typically tidy and predictably on the mark.
Left Midfield: Steven Gerrard – England
The sooner England ship this guy out the better. Clearly responding in kind to Zidane’s recent praise, Gerrard showed more than a touch of the sweaty bald man when taking the ball to tee up Emile Heskey….if only France had had the Aston Villa striker when Zidane was in his heyday.
Striker: Wayne Rooney – England
Call him the ‘joker in the pack’, call him ‘crazy’ or call him ‘genius’….there’s no avoiding Rooney’s influence on England. Selfless enough to indulge Gerrard’s licensed roaming by filling in on the left but disciplined enough to steer clear of any corner flags, the man of the moment was sheer class when Slovakia came to town.
Striker: Warren Feeney – Northern Ireland
While former club Luton tumble down the leagues Feeney is busy strutting his stuff for Dundee United….he’s really shown them. Saturday’s took his entire season tally to a lofty five, two of which have come against Boruc.