Spain 2-0 England: Terry Butcher's player ratings
Saturday 14 November 2015 07:22, UK
England fell to a 2-0 defeat against Spain on Friday night, with goals from Mario Gaspar and Santi Cazorla sending Roy Hodgson's side to their first loss since the 2014 World Cup.
The game was goalless at the break before Mario acrobatically converted a Cesc Fabregas chipped pass and Cazorla slotted in from the edge of the box late on.
Here, former England captain Terry Butcher gives his verdict on how England's players did…
Joe Hart - 7/10
Hart didn't have a lot to do in the game and had no chance with either goal. He did make one good save, coming out to deny Juan Mata, but his first game as England captain unfortunately ends in defeat, which is not nice.
Kyle Walker - 7
Walker was steady. He got forward a bit more in the second half. He's got great competition for that right-back spot with Nathaniel Clyne but I thought he equipped himself alright.
Chris Smalling - 7.5
I thought England's two centre-halves did very well. Smalling was strong against Diego Costa and picked up runners as well. He didn't come out with the ball as much as you'd like but Spain pressed England's centre-backs very well.
Phil Jones - 7.5
I thought Jones was excellent. He did well against Costa, although it was a bit more difficult for him in the second half when there was no big centre-forward to play against. Spain's movement was also very good but I thought he stuck to his task very well.
Ryan Bertrand - 8
Bertrand was the best of the back four. He linked up well, got crosses into the box, defended well and was better when Raheem Sterling was on his side. I'd say he's the No 1 choice at left-back, ahead of Kieran Gibbs and with Luke Shaw out. At the moment he's in pole position.
Michael Carrick - 6.5
It was sad to see Carrick injured again and stretchered off. He had more defensive duties to perform than attacking ones but he disappointed me that he couldn't - and didn't - get on the ball to make the passing range that he's got count. Instead he had to pick up a lot of runners and he was often outnumbered.
Fabian Delph - 6.5
Delph defended really well with Carrick but sometimes he was sloppy on the ball and not as neat and tidy as he'd have liked. Spain put the two England central midfielders and centre-backs under pressure and Delph was having to go back to his own goal more than attack the Spanish goal.
Ross Barkley - 6
Barkley was disappointing. He didn't get on the ball enough and when he did he had a couple snap shots which he should have done better with. His passing wasn't great, either. He was very much out of his depth, I thought. But he'll have learnt more from this game than any other England game he's played. He would have disappointed Roy Hodgson because he's a much better player than that. But it's another step up in terms of the level of the team he's playing against.
Adam Lallana - 7
I thought Lallana worked hard and got forward well. He played in a position he enjoys, where he can come inside and get on the ball or he can attack over the top. I thought he was neat and tidy, effective and held the position well.
Harry Kane - 8
Kane didn't have a lot of support and he was up against two players in Gerard Pique and Marc Bartra who know each other well from Barcelona. He made a poor decision at the end when it was four v two and he shot when he should have played another England player in. But he's still young, he's still learning and he's still eager to score. He held the ball up well, won some good headers. He played better than Diego Costa did in a similar role for Spain.
Raheem Sterling - 7
As much as Sterling did really well, running with the ball, taking people on and linking up with Bertrand, he got in some good positions and gave the ball away cheaply. You're expecting more from a player of that quality in that position, to do something better. Spain did it when they got in those positions. We didn't.
SUBS
Dele Alli did alright when he came on and pulled off a good little back-heel in the midfield. He did OK and it was another good few minutes at this level for him against better opposition. Eric Dier was strong, made some good passes, settled into that midfield role no problems. Wayne Rooney came on and hit the bar with a volley he should have done better with but it was good to see him on there - England looked better when he was behind Kane than Barkley, because he's got the experience. Gary Cahill and Shelvey came on very late on - we might see more of them against France.
TERRY'S VERDICT
It was disappointing to see the unbeaten run come to an end but it doesn't matter because these are friendlies leading up to the ultimate thing: Euro 2016. But England will have learnt a lot more from this game about every position than they did in the previous 10 games in qualifying. From that aspect, it's a good lesson for England.
