English Players: Saturday Round-Up

Roy Hodgson has informed players that they need to show him why they should be on the plane to Brazil next year. It seems that message got through as several English players made a statement in Saturday's football fixtures:

Newcastle 2-2 Liverpool (Sturridge & Gerrard)

It's not about evaluating the whole game, Cabaye's strike means very little to an England team site, however the performance of Sturridge and Gerrard does. Gerrard scored a penalty after Suarez was judged to have been fouled in the area. Then Sturridge equalised again for Liverpool as Suarez managed to get to the by-line and his cutback was headed home from close range. Sturridge didn't look that sharp for England the past week, but he has continued his impressive form for his club.

Arsenal 4-1 Norwich (Wilshere)

Arsenal ran out comfortable winners in the end against Norwich, and Jack Wilshere was the man to get the party started, opening the scoring in the 18th minute. WIlshere came on as a substitute in both games for England and was largely pushed out to the right hand side. However today he proved he still has that goal scoring touch and maybe more importantly, he came through a full 90 minutes without any complications. Keeping himself fit may be the biggest challenge for Wilshere to ensure he is on the plane to Brazil.

Other Notes

Although the three mentioned above were the only English scorers in the Premier League today. A Wayne Rooney shot was parried into the path of Robin Van Persie for Manchester United's only goal in a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Southampton. Ravel Morrison's flick was expertly put away by Ricardo Vaz Te as West Ham lost to Manchester City 1-3 at home. Saido Berahino played 62 minutes in West Brom's 0-0 draw away at Stoke. Tom Ince scored from the penalty spot to earn Blackpool a 1-0 win against Wigan. England U21 defender Jack Robinson also played a full 90 minutes for Blackpool and contributed to them keeping a clean sheet.