Skip to content

England player ratings: Peter Taylor gives his verdict

Jamie Vardy (2nd L) of England celebrates scoring his team's second goal

Peter Taylor gives us his player ratings from England's stunning comeback win against world champions Germany in Berlin.

Roy Hodgson's side roared back from two goals down to seal a 3-2 victory thanks to goals from Harry Kane, substitute Jamie Vardy and Eric Dier as the Three Lions got their preparations for Euro 2016 off to the perfect start.

Here are former England caretaker manager Taylor's player ratings... 

Jack Butland - 6/10

It was a disappointing night for Butland because of the injury. When he got injured he did a couple of things wrong. One, he should have kicked the ball out and two, he made it obvious he was injured. It wouldn't surprise me if Toni Kroos saw that and it was the reason he took the shot on from where he did. He has to learn from what happened in Berlin.

Nathaniel Clyne - 9

It was the best I've seen Clyne play for England on the ball. For me there's no doubt about his defensive play. He's very, very good but on the ball he was excellent against Germany.

Also See:

England's defender Nathaniel Clyne (L) and Germany's midfielder Lukas Podolski vie for the ball
Image: Nathaniel Clyne impressed Taylor with his performance

Gary Cahill - 8

England's skipper for the night didn't do too much wrong. Alongside Smalling, the pair did a good job and both get eights.

Chris Smalling - 8

The centre-backs are still the one question mark for me but Smalling didn't do too much wrong. As I just mentioned it's an eight for the Manchester United defender.

Danny Rose - 9

It's was a perfect debut for Danny Rose. He looked very powerful in defence. He didn't get forward as much as he would have probably liked but there was never any danger of him being outrun. He has to get a nine for that performance.

Danny Rose tackles Andre Schurrle during England's 3-2 win over Germany
Image: Danny Rose made his England debut in Germany

Eric Dier - 9

The defensive midfield position is so important in the modern game. The full-backs bomb forward but with a good player in the holding role they can go with confidence. Dier is so important to this England side. He came up with the winning goal which is a bonus but it was another assured performance from the Tottenham midfielder.

Eric Dier of England celebrates scoring his team's third goal against Germany
Image: Eric Dier completed England's comeback with an injury time header

Jordan Henderson - 7

Henderson got more and more involved as the game went on. However, I didn't think it was such a good night for the Liverpool midfielder. That may be a bit harsh but he certainly has more to give.

Dele Alli - 9

Dele Alli gets better and better. There are so many things he does on the field and you sit back and think 'blimey'! He's got great energy, closes people down and shows some brilliant touches. It was another terrific display.

It's been an unbelievable start to his England career but he has to keep his feet on the ground. He's got a fantastic future ahead of him but we don't want him to throw it away by going a bit overboard.

BERLIN, GERMANY - MARCH 26:  Dele Alli of England and Mesut Oezil of Germany compete for the ball during the International Friendly match between Germany a
Image: Dele Alli vies for the ball with Mesut Ozil

Adam Lallana - 8

Adam Lallana looked as sharp as I've seen him in a long time. That was a real positive. In the early stages of his move to Liverpool he didn't really perform well enough for club or country, but that was a much better showing. He deserves an eight.

Harry Kane - 8

What a lovely situation to pull off a Cruyff turn like that! He will be proud of that. It was also a typical Kane finish. He gets eight out of 10.

Harry Kane of England scores his team's first goal
Image: Harry Kane scores England's first goal

Danny Welbeck - 8

Danny Welbeck has looked incredibly sharp since his return from injury. He continued that form against Germany in what was a solid performance.

Subs: 

Fraser Forster - 7

The Southampton goalkeeper had absolutely no chance with Mario Gomez's goal. After that he didn't really have much to do. He's done absolutely nothing wrong so I have to give him a seven.

Jamie Vardy - 8

Jamie Vardy of England celebrates scoring his team's second goal against Germany
Image: Jamie Vardy scored the equaliser for England

It's difficult to judge him on a 19-minute performance but his season continues to get better and better. It was a superb finish and he never stopped running for the cause.

Ross Barkley - 7

Again it's difficult to judge a 19-minute performance, but I felt he could have got into the game a bit more. What he had to do though, he did well.

Around Sky