Shearers BBC Column

[Scottish Mag 3]

By Alan Shearer

Newcastle striker and BBC Sport columnist

 

 

You do not become a bad team overnight and just because England lost a friendly 4-1 in Denmark on Wednesday does not mean suddenly they cannot play football.

 

The players will know that better than anyone. It was a poor performance and a poor result but it is gone and they will just try and forget about it.

 

When you hurt good players, when they are wounded, more often than not they come back stronger and there is no reason why they will not do that against Wales next month.

 

 

I was a bit mystified Jermain Defoe only got 45 minutes - I'd have been looking for a whole game from him

 

 

In fact, I am sure the players and Sven-Goran Eriksson are glad they have got such a poor display out of their system before the real business of World Cup qualifiers starts again.

 

They will all be disappointed but they will also know in the back of their minds that they have got it out of the way now.

 

Eriksson has not got the best record in friendlies, that is there for everyone to see, but he always produces in the qualifiers and that is what counts.

 

I do not know what the mentality is to friendlies in this England set-up but they are not proper games when you are changing five or six people around every time.

 

There is a definite argument for just having a training camp instead of playing a game at all but I am sure the manager would disagree.

 

I was a bit mystified with how Jermain Defoe was handled to be honest.

 

I am sure he was disappointed he only played for one half, but I guess you would have to ask the manager why that happened.

 

If I was to play Defoe I would have been looking for 90 minutes from him, especially as he is probably going to start up front with Wayne Rooney for the Wales game.

 

And my Newcastle team-mate Jermaine Jenas only got six minutes - he has picked up another cap, but he is not going to learn much from it, especially when his team are 3-0 down.

 

The overriding plus point on a disappointing night was the performance of young Rooney.

 

He is becoming massively important to England now, even at his age. He is a fantastic player and there will be a lot of hopes riding on his shoulders in the World Cup.

 

I thought he took his goal really well and he was by far England's best player in Copenhagen.

 

It is a great sign for him that the other players always look to him for a pass but it's not surprising - he is already a great player and the scary thing is he can get better. He can be as good as he wants to be.

 

There is a lot of expectation on him but I do not think it bothers him, I think he gets better the more pressure is put on him, that is the way he seems to play.

 

He has had enough pressure with what he has been through in his three years in football and he has handled it very well so I do not think that will be a problem at all.

[Gemmill 44811]

In fact, I am sure the players and Sven-Goran Eriksson are glad they have got such a poor display out of their system before the real business of World Cup qualifiers starts again.

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Getting bad performances out of our system didn't do us much good last season did it.

[geordieshandy 0]

We got so many bad performances out of our systems last season this term should be an absolute cake walk