I’m not sure if I have ever been this proud to be a Spurs supporter, having watched Lennon put in a man of the match (and match-winning) performance in England’s 5-1 demolition of Croatia last night. Everything seems to be ‘coming together’ this season with superb performances from many of our squad.
England were at their very best last night and never looked in trouble against a Croatia team rated 9th in the Fifa World Rankings. From the start we were positive in attack, and controlled in defence. Every time we got the ball we looked threatening.
It’s even better that our very own Aaron Lennon is getting such rave reviews on the back pages today, and there is no doubt in my mind that this is his season to finally reach his potential and answer the many critics that doubt his international credentials.
If only his second half effort wasn’t brilliantly saved by the Croat keeper. A first international goal was very much deserved, but it was not to be. In retrospect, the winger could have done slightly better with the shot, but I’m not going to take anything away from an outstanding performance.
The first goal was always going to be important, and it was Aaron who won the penalty that Lampard duly converted after an obvious (despite protests!) trip in the area proved to be the only way the Croatian defence could stop the Spurs man.
Following this, a fantastic cross set up Gerrard to head home, putting England firmly in control. The performance impressed Beckham, his competition for the role on the right side of the England midfield.
Defoe failed to add to his impressive goal tally after coming on as a sub for Heskey. Despite calls for Jermain to start, Capello stuck with the Heskey-Rooney partnership. Although many Spurs fans wanted to see our man get his reward for recent impressive displays, I can understand why he didn’t.
Despite this, Defoe still looked sharp when he joined the action on the hour, and should be fit and raring to go against United at the weekend.
It is possibly unfair to judge Kranjcar on this performance, as England simply didn’t allow the Croatians into the game, and therefore our new acquisition failed to make any impact on the game at all. Time will tell whether this was a good signing for us, but for just £2million we can’t really go wrong!
In other matches, Pavlyuchenko scored in the 90th minute in Wales with Russia winning 3-1, this follows 2 penalties converted at the weekend. Good news that the Russian striker will not have to travel to far to rejoin the club.
