L’Equipe never shirk with a poor rating if they feel a player has it coming.
England’s 0-0 draw with Slovakia, last night, was only enjoyable to those that cherish redoubtable defence and fine, Slovakian goalkeeping.
39,051 fans were at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard to bear witness to a result that secured second spot for England and a likely place in the knockouts for Slovakia.
Most onlookers paid for the pleasure but some, like the head of the Spanish FA, did not. Perhaps that is why he dozed off during the STALEmate.
The performance of Jordan Henderson divided many supporters. His set-piece deliveries were below par but his passing accuracy, particularly in the attacking third of the pitch, was unrivalled. The French paper deigned to award him 7/10.
Slovakia goalkeeper Matúš Kozáčik got the highest score [8], while two men he repelled, Jamie Vardy and Adam Lallana, were rated 6. Nathaniel Clyne got a 6 too and that was as good as it got.
We would avoid Chris Smalling and Jack Wilshere to avoid picking up L’Equipe today. Both ended up with 4/10 while Wilshere’s erratic passing and Smalling’s uncertainty in his dealings with goalkeeper Joe Hart were both noted in the match report.
For what it is worth, our very own Mikey Stafford rated Smalling 6 and Wilshere 5.
The lowest scoring English player, in our assessment, was Ryan Bertrand. He got a 4, ‘dawdled in possession on a number of occasions’ and was lucky not to be red-carded. You can check out our ratings here.
