Carrick isn't a holding player and I don't know where the insane notion that he is came from. Probably Match of the Day, what with their constant Carrick lovefest.

Speaking of, remember after the Greece game when Gary Lineker snidely remarked "Missing you, Sven." and Ian Wright burst into fits of hysterical laughter? I wonder who's laughing now. I don't know why Sven gets such a bad rap anyway. He's the one who gave players like Rooney, Hargreaves, Crouch and Lennon a chance when other managers probably wouldn't.

As for tonight, meh. 3-5-2 was a rather nonsensical decision in the first place. I'm not going to write McClaren off, I just hope he learns from his mistakes. He does seem to learn quick, what with the dropping of Downing for this game, but he has yet to realise that Defoe and Richardson aren't that good either.