[jambutty]

Did anyone notice Ronaldo’s wink as he walked away from the Rooney incident after trying to influence the ref? That said it all for me and if he hadn’t interfered Rooney may not have got sent off. You can hardly blame the lad for pushing someone away when they have just barged into you and it was this push that sealed his fate not the alleged stamp.

I would just like to point something out. When you have both feet off the ground it isn’t easy to arrange where to land and you go where gravity takes you. There was no deliberate movement to stamp, he just came down in an awkward place.

But the real villain of the piece is the coach. What was he thinking of in taking only four strikers two of whom were suspect and one was a lumbering ox on the ground. Owen was not match fit – there was no real guarantee that Rooney would be fit to play at some time and Crouch, well he may be good in the air – at 6 feet 7 inches he should be, but on the deck he is all uncoordinated arms and legs. When he runs it looks like he is running in treacle. In fact his height will always be a problem because when he jumps for a ball it will always look like he is taking a ride on someone’s shoulders even when he isn’t.

Whatever induced him to play Rooney up front as lone striker? Rooney isn’t a lone striker player. Whenever he got the ball he was immediately surrounded by at least three defenders and there was no one around to offer an outlet. It’s no wonder he got frustrated. So don’t be too harsh on the lad. He had the odds stacked against him right from the start and didn’t have the maturity to cope. The Portuguese were out to wind him from the start and they did.

The future? Get rid of Beckham, Owen, Crouch. The first two are past it and the third isn’t up to it. Get back to 4 – 4 – 2 the system that we know best. Make John Terry the captain. A captain needs to see what is happening all over the field to be useful and you can’t do that from midfield/attacking. Play either Lampard or Gerrard in midfield but not both. Teach Joe Cole not to be so greedy. His role is to beat the defenders and get the ball to the strikers not go it alone with half a dozen men in the area waiting for the ball. Owen Hargreaves given the opportunity instead of the usual last 15 minutes showed his tenacity and should be first choice for his role. During his short spells Lennon did very well and had the beating of most defenders with his pace. Use it whilst he still has it even if it means dropping Lampard or Gerrard. Cole on the left and Lennon on the right would give defenders something to think about.

As for the penalties, they were abysmal. The Portuguese and Germans were just as tired as our lot but they had belief in their abilities. We didn’t! Beckham’s ability with free kicks and long range accurate passing didn’t just happen. He practiced, practiced and practiced and we should do the same for penalties. Practice until every man jack can trot up and blast the ball into the net out of the goalie’s reach. The whole squad should be able to take a penalty with confidence - even the goalkeeper. I accept that there is little or no pressure in taking a penalty on the training ground but there could be inter-player competition to liven things up a bit. 20 penalties each every day. Maybe even a bet on the side. £100 each in the kitty, winner takes all. I mean they spend more than that on the horses.

I also accept the pressure of the occasion does have an effect but if you can’t take a penalty with confidence in the first place then pressure doesn’t make any real difference.

Finally Beckham has resigned as captain because he could see the writing on the wall and decided to go before being pushed.