Gerrard was quality in the first half - Carrick playing as the holding midfielder gave him a lot more attacking license than he tends to get when Lampard's alongside him. Some great touches as well, which made mugs of some of the Uruguay defence early on.
Carragher got an unexpected 70-odd minutes at left back, looked as solid as a rock, and made some fantastic slide-rule passes through, particularly one to Cole from midfield through to a very dangerous area. Carra was always going to be on the plane to Germany due to the fact that he can cover anywhere in the back 4, but I think Sol Campbell's lack of form and fitness, Woodgate's constant breaking down, and Rio's all-too-regular lapses may be bringing him closer to the starting line up than we'd expected. I thought Rio was abysmal in the first half tonight, giving the ball away on many occasions and misplacing 10-yard passes.
Crouch came on for Rooney, and in many ways turned the game. Great header for the goal, and some very high quality work on the floor too. He really has a great weight of pass at his disposal in dangerous areas, and for me right now he's England's 3rd choice striker, and that's assuming Owen regains fitness and form in time for the World Cup.
Entertaining cameo from SWP on the right, who looked far more dangerous in 25 minutes as a provider than Beckham was all night, Carrick's distribution was excellent throughout, and all-in-all it was a good run-out. Felt sorry for Bent, who ran gamely while he was on there, but too many mistimed runs, and some passes through that didn't make it to him, but he'll definitely still be in Sven's thoughts as he didn't look out of place there.
For the Liverpool lads though, a very good night. At least 3 of our own definitely on the plane for me.
