Good result and performance for England against Bulgarians

England ran out 3-0 victors against Bulgarian in Sofia in group G of the European Championship qualifiers.

The victory was a vital one for the Three Lions and Fabio Capello’s men produced a decent performance.

Happy

Prior to the game I wrote an article asking for England boss Fabio Capello to pick players on form and he did.

As soon as I saw the England line-up I was happy. Most of the players in that line-up were in form players and it showed in the performance.

Exciting

The selection of Theo Walcott, Ashley Young and Stewart Downing would have got most England fans excited. All three are players capable of beating a man and are full of pace. These are the sort of players that get fans off their seats.

The formation that Capello set up was tailored to his team catching Bulgaria on the counter attack. And with those three and Wayne Rooney England have the ideal players to break on teams quickly. All four players have started this season is superb form as well.

Even Walcott, who has been playing in a struggling Arsenal team has had a decent start to this season. The quartet all played their part in this victory and I can see Fabio Capello sticking with the same formation for the clash with Wales on Tuesday.

Sharp

Wayne Rooney bagged two goals for himself against the Bulgarian and is looking sharper than ever. Even in the dying minutes of the game Rooney was still chasing down the opposition looking for his hat trick.

He endured a bit of a nightmare campaign last season but this season he has hit the ground running and he starting to get back to his best. Rooney is enjoying his football again and that’s good for Manchester United and England.

Rooney looks like a different player to the one who struggled so badly at last years World Cup. With Rooney in his current form England are a completely different proposition.

Professional

England did a good professional job in the second half, having gone 3-0 up by half-time. There were a few chances to extend the lead in the second half but were happy with keeping it solid with the three points already in the bag.

Quite frankly the Bulgarians were poor but England still had to make the most of that lack of quality. And England took advantage of woeful defending to win the game comfortably.

Brighter

The situation in the qualifying group is now looking slightly better, after rivals Montenegro lost 2-1 in Wales. That means that England are now three points clear of the Montenegrins. If England beat Wales on Tuesday night then they will be one step closer to qualification for next years European Championships.

England really have made qualifying from group G difficult, but then again when do England players ever make it easy for us fans?

Options

Fabio Capello now has good options in every position and he can now be flexible in the tactics he uses because of the players available to him. The players that England currently have available are in-form and hopefully they can carry on that good form in Tuesday nights encounter with Wales.

Confidence

This victory will help the confidence amongst the squad, which in recent games has been damaged by below par results and performances. England rather swaggered past Bulgaria and that’s the way they need to continue to play.

If England can carry this sort of form and confidence into next years European Championships (if we qualify!) then the team will actually go into the tournament with a chance of doing well. Sometimes England’s fans expectations are too high.

However the current group of players gives us England fans hope that there might be better times ahead in the near future. We’ve had enough disappointment, now is the time for a big of success.

Are England now certainties  to qualify for next years European Championships?