<–!more–>The two positions ahead of the clash that had been most discussed were the goalkeeper and the striker to partner Wayne Rooney. Rob Green and Emile Heskey were given the nod and looked to prove themselves again for Wednesday’s qualifier against Croatia. The full line-up was as follows: Green; Johnson, Terry, Upson, Cole; Wright-Phillips, Lampard, Barry, Gerrard; Rooney, Heskey.

I found it quite interesting that Jermain Defoe was left on the bench and Heskey started up front with Wayne Rooney. Defoe has had a brilliant start to the season, which see’s Spurs having their best start to the Premier League season ever. Defoe was also very impressive in his last two England appearances, particularly against Holland where he came on in the second half and quickly changed the game.

Heskey has been struggling at Villa and he simply does not put in the goals. However, what he does offer is hold-up play, and when you have a team that includes Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard, sometimes you need a player that will hold-up the ball and allow other players to come into the game. Whether he will start come summer in South Africa, I doubt it. But there is still plenty of time for him to impress during the season.

Rob Green started the game in almost the worst possible way. A long ball from Slovenia bouncing towards his area which he came out and caught. However, replays showed that he was actually outside his area when he caught the ball. Which could have potentially been a red card offense within the opening ten minutes. With the goalkeeper being one of the few spots up for grabs, Green needed a perfect performance, and unfortunately, he did not get it.

Although England had lots of possession in the first half of the game they did not really create enough chances with it. Shaun Wright-Phillips had a good half and was always looking to take players on. Gerrard on the left hand side combined well once or twice with Rooney, but other than that he had a very quiet game. Barry played well and kept tracking back to win the ball back for England.

The first half penalty was very suspect indeed. I am not going to suggest that it should have been a penalty at all. However, lots of people are accusing Wayne Rooney of diving, the way I saw it was that Rooney and the defender were both pulling each others shirts, Rooney seemed to stick out a leg in a weak attempt to win the ball, the defender tumbled and Rooney was given a penalty. I do not think it was a dive, but it is not very often that a player will stand up and say ‘no, you got the decision wrong’.

Rooney had a great chance to put England 2-0, up after Frank Lampard professionally put away the penalty, Rooney had a clear sight at goal in the closing minutes of the second half but his volley only managed to find the post. Four changes were made at half time, with Defoe, Lennon, Carrick and Milner replacing Heskey, SWP, Lampard and Gerrard.

Defoe quickly looked sharp, but both Milner and Lennon strugged to make an impact on the game. Both players played well and did not really make any mistakes, but they weren’t quite cutting edge when it came to breaking down defenders. Also, the partnership of Barry and Carrick did not fit so well. Both players are more prone to play the holding role in midfield and when they were both playing together, neither of them understood who should go forward and link the play between the strikers.

Jermain Defoe extended his great run of form by putting England 2-0 ahead with a nice finish from just outside the box. One chance and one goal, Defoe seems to me to be finding the goalscorring form that servered Michael Owen so well for England. Defoe has pace, strength, and above all an eye for goal. Heskey is great at holding the ball up, but you win games with goals and Defoe should not be placed below Heskey in the pecking order.

England seemed to be plain sailing for most of the game, but Glenn Johnson seemed to be having a bit of trouble with his defensive responsibilities. There were a number of occasions where Slovenia managed to slid the ball in behind Johnson and leave England open to attack. Johnson was very good going forward, giving SWP and Lennon the overlapping option. His performance could be compared to the early days of Ashley Cole, brilliant in attack, not so good in defence. He would do well to take some tips from Cole on how to pick up his defensive game.

Finally, Capello may not be pleased with England’s overall performance, with the last five minutes ticking away, England were sloppy in defence and Slovenia equallised. Capello’s message for the game was concentration. It was about going out and getting a result for the full 90 minutes. They got the result, but the lapse in concentration at the end of the game will not have pleased the Italian. He knows that if England cannot concentrate for a full 90 minutes then they are going to have problems come South Africa in the summer.