Mick Mac Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think Ferdinand was a huge miss for England. > Their defence was absolutley deplorable today. > Johnson Terry and Upson got the absolute run > around. > > But they did have most of the possession, so the > rest of the team must have done better than most > of the pundits have said. > > John Terry was up the other end of the field for > the last two goals. With no speed in defence they > needed to defend deeper. You can get caught on the > break once, but 4 times is a bit thick. In addition to missing Ferdinand, with some pace badly needed in defence, I think the England team missed a Scott Parker or equivalent to play alongside Barry. I'm afraid Gerrard and Lampard are only interested in scoring goals, not doing a proper shift in midfield. I'm not even sure its correct to refer to them as midfielders at all. Despite England's abject defensive deficincies, big matches are won and lost in midfield. There was no midfield in place for the 3rd and 4th goals. The defence and the midfield were mostly ahead of the ball and playing catch up when the Germans broke.