England 1 Spain 4

Managed to blag a couple of free tickets to last night's friendly so hauled my arse all the way to WHL - then rather wished I hadn't. Ok, I know its a friendly, the players use it to get fit, blah blah blah - but doesn't the same go for Villarreal? The fact is we were poor and they were not. They were trying, we were not. Believe me when I tell you it could easily have been 7 - 1.

As the title suggests, it reminded me at one point of what the World Cup semi final might have looked like if England had somehow managed to beat Germany and the Argies. Villarreal were knocking it about beautifully. Fantastic passing and moving, great vision and a typically Spanish ability to keep our boys as far away from the ball as possible. By comparison, most of our successfully completed passes occured the wrong side of the centre circle and nobody really seemed to remember what is involved in creating chances. Let's hope they learned something.

First half positives: Walker looks like a hero in waiting.

The second half was a bit more lively. Bale is a game changer - incredible at such a tender age, he's well on his way to being truely world class. Best LWB in the world 5 years from now - mark my words.

A well taken goal by Gio. He looked pretty tasty too. Good positioning, quick feet, I even saw him get stuck in to a cracking challenge or two. Please don't sell him Harry - pretty please. He looked every inch the World Cup star we saw last month.

In other areas the Beanpole did OK, Kranners was poor, Hudd was average, Rose and Parrett were annonymous and Hutton is rapidly turning into my next hate figure. Still no sign of Modders - is he injured?

Lastly, I was disappointed that there were no pasties on sale at half time down in the corner (block 23) - had to have a hotdog which was utter shit and cost 4 quid. I'm not usually a patron of the Paxton end, is this normal for you lot over there or is it a new catering arrangement for this season?