Micah Richards: Fantastic game, but really, why was he moved away from right-back? He was troubling Christian Pander and would have created a few more chances from the right flank if he had stayed in his place. Wes Brown is a fine right-back but doesn’t have the dynamism of Richards.

John Terry and Rio Ferdinand: I think Terry should have done a bit more in marshalling the midfield in front of him, but otherwise he did fine. Not convinced by the decision to take off Rio, but if you’re going to do that then give Brown a central defensive role or give Stephen Taylor a run-out. Why compromise your attacking threat on the right flank?

Nicky Shorey: Fair performance and looked decent going forward. He’s an able deputy for Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge and at least we have that position secure, eh?

David Beckham: Came into central midfield too often for my liking – he doesn’t have to station himself right on the touchline but by staying forward AND wide his mere presence would have troubled Germany more. Looked good in the first 20 minutes, but then as England faded and Becks started wading into central midfield to help out, got out of the game. And he didn’t look too convincing with his crossing, corners or free kicks (OK, a couple of them were great).

Frank Lampard: Good display by him and a well-taken goal. He missed an easy scoring chance, but apart from that the only complaint I had was that he didn’t take the lead in midfield and sort out the problems England were facing.

Michael Carrick: Worst player on the pitch, even worse than Dyer and Smith because his poor positioning cost England two goals. I am a BIG fan of Carrick, and I still think that he deserves to play for England, but what he did yesterday was inexcusable.

Part of the blame should probably go to Steve McClaren here, but as a player if you see that your side are giving too much space in midfield to the opposition, what are you going to do? Well, if you’re a central midfielder who has played the defensive mid role for his clubs in the past, then you’re expected to take the lead, sit back and anchor the midfield. Carrick is experienced enough to know what to do in these situations. Someone (Lampard, Beckham, Terry, Rio) should have talked to him during the game and you could see Beckham going in to cover, but as far as the shape of England’s midfield was concerned they were terrible, and a big reason for that was Carrick’s positioning.

I’ve seen him do better, and I know he can be much, much better. Mate, get your act sorted out, and most importantly, make sure you know where you are supposed to be playing on the pitch in different situations (club v country). Take some initiative, dammit!

Joe Cole: Cuts in far too much for my taste – SWP did a better job in the limited time he had on the pitch, mainly because he went wide and forced the defence to open up. Joe Cole can beat a man with his pace and ability as well as (if not better than) SWP, but it’s harder to do in a crowded part of the pitch, where Cole usually is.

Alan Smith: I understand Jermain Defoe is ’similar’ to Owen and all that, but this was a game where Defoe should have  played 90 minutes, especially considering that Smith will never be an adequate emergency striker replacement for England. Pointless appearance – sorry Smudger, we love you but the team always comes first, remember?

Michael Owen: Should harry defenders more when they have the ball, but apart from that all he needs to do now is play as much as possible for Newcastle and, hopefully, get a couple of goals for them. He and Peter Crouch will be England’s main strikers against Russia in the toughest game left in the qualifiers, and we need him to be on top of his game there.

David James (sub): Why is Jamo in the squad? As a back-up keeper? He’ll be out by next year, and it’s high time that someone younger was tried in the England goal. Carson has been around for a long time, so why not give him 45 minutes? James is a good keeper – nothing personal against him, but he’s as good (or as bad) as Robinson and I’d rather have someone new coming in than bring in the old guard to repeat the same mistakes. At least give them a chance.

Wes Brown (sub): Didn’t do too shabbily, but shouldn’t have played at right-back because it killed the attacking verve we had on the right flank.

Peter Crouch (sub): Perhaps brought on with the Russia qualifier in mind, so not much to say against him but he didn’t do much, mind you.

Kieron Dyer (sub): More ‘experience’? Just giving the old boys one last chance? Dyer created a couple of good chances but when you’re playing a support striker on the left flank (Joe Cole), Dyer’s selection makes little sense, especially since Defoe stayed on the bench all of the 90 minutes.

Shaun Wright-Phillips (sub): Best of the subs, gave England real width and pace on the left flank (despite being right-footed). If Aaron Lennon is not fit in time for Russia, I’d give Stuart Downing and SWP as much chance as possible in that game.

Gareth Barry (sub): By the time he came on Germany were content to sit back and soak up the pressure, and the game had become a lot more open so he didn’t have much ’sitting back’ to do. This would have given him good exposure with the squad but if he wants to play for England regularly he needs to either pick a different position to central midfield or become the sort of midfielder that England lack (a combination of Owen Hargreaves and Carrick – passing, tackling, discipline to sit back AND good going forward). Barry has all those abilities, but he needs to sharpen them and turn things up a few notches.

Tactics & McClaren Watch
Time to bring in Jurgen Klinsmann and ditch McClaren? Might make us more disciplined and definitely more tactically aware during the game. It’s not happening until we crash out of the qualifiers or the Euro 2008 itself, though.

Ahmed Bilal is the owner and editor of www.soccerlens.com