England.
Whilst we were off the mark last night, it was definately with fitness than quality. Everyone knows we have a great team. You can certainly tell that the Japanese are a team who've been playing matches - we looked knackered and Sven did very much the right thing by waiting until the 77th minute before making his first changes.
They'll be ready to go by the France game, which is possibly Sven's hardest task as England manager.
A few notes:
A) Paul Scholes was utter dross last night. His presence in the team restricts the influence of Lampard. DROP HIM NOW! He has been totally ineffective for far too long to get away with it - if I was doing my job as badly as he is, I'd be sacked.
Steven Gerrard is NOT a left sided player. He's the most influential centre midfielder in the world at the moment. By dropping Scholes we could play Joe Cole on the left, and have some width and some skill out wide. Gerrard is too good to be on the left.
C) The Japanese are a very good team, who will cause anyone in world football problems. Their sheer pace is a worry for anyone - would love to see them have a run at the French back four.
D) "Alex" - what a lovely Japanese name!
Not too worried about this result, not that I'm exactly dancing on the ceiling about it. In my opinion, this tournament is all about FITNESS. Not results, or team selection, but FITNESS. The players had a deserved rest after their long season - they'll be fit, ready, and raring to go against France, that I promise you.