Former Villa and Albion boss Ron Atkinson gives you his verdict on every England game in the World Cup exclusively to the Express & Star.

Thank goodness that is over. I don’t know about you but yesterday’s England match against Slovenia left me ecstatic but emotionally drained.

I was at least relieved that we had got the win and did so with a much better performance.

Not winning the group? We can’t afford to be picky. Twenty four hours ago, we were all fretting about whether or not England would be on the tarmac today so let’s not worry too much about minor hiccups.

But when I sat down later and began thinking about the Slovenia game, I was surprised at how few impressive individual performances I could recall.

I thought John Terry was utterly outstanding, our best player and very powerful. Whatever headlines and upset his ill-advised comments may have provoked, you could not doubt his commitment to the cause yesterday.

James Milner was another to deserve a mention right up there with him. I’ve always been a big advocate of this player and when England were having problems with their left-hand side a while back, I felt Milner should have been given an opportunity. That was during his spell at Newcastle.

Everybody says ‘play with wingers,’ but it is no good if your wingers are not getting in the right positions to receive the ball and delivering the right crosses. Up until now, our wingers had not.

But Milner is a little Beckham-like in that respect. He doesn’t need to skin his man because he has the quality to whip over crosses from difficult positions – and the one which created the goal was an absolute peach.

Not only do you get fantastic quality from Milner, you also get a tremendous work ethic and I think that is vital in front of a right-back who I worry about defensively. So well done to the Villa lad who fully justified Fabio Capello’s faith in him.

I think we can also give a ‘nod’ to Steven Gerrard for his drive and forcefulness, I felt Gareth Barry got through the bits and pieces of his game well enough and, while David James didn’t have anything spectacular to do, he dealt with some ugly stuff very well.

But I worry about Glen Johnson at right-back and how he will cope when we come up against a team with a genuine left-side attacking threat.

I also still do not know why Frank Lampard is not happening as an England player, he just does not impact on a game anything like he manages at club level.

And, of course, what on earth is wrong with Wayne Rooney? I don’t like what I’m seeing from a player we all know is a genuine world beater.

I suspect the medical bulletins from the England camp over the next few days will talk about an injury, but I’m not so sure that will have anything to do with it.

Rooney just seems a bit at odds with himself and there was something about his body language when he was substituted which told me that all is not well with him. This is a worry for England, because a fully-fit and fired-up Rooney makes an enormous difference.

But, while yesterday’s performance was a step up from his display in the Algeria game, you can’t tell me we saw the dynamism, the power, the drive which lit up Manchester United last season. Nothing like.

If I’m going to be hyper-critical, I would like to have seen us keep the ball better in critical phases of the game, like the closing stage of the first half and then late in the second. I would like to see us control the game a lot more.

But we are through with a much better all-round display – more drive, more passion, more energy and much better passing, which could easily have brought more goals and takes the immediate pressure off.

As I have said all along, I would not be surprised to see England’s performance level continue to climb from here and believe that the later phases of the tournament are absolutely tailor-made for a five-man midfield.

That is especially so against the Germans, who have shown their ability to control possession through midfield in the group games, but I do not think Capello is going to change.

While it was no surprise to me to see us line-up again in an orthodox 4-4-2, it was a disappointment.

I still do not see the value in utilising our best offensive central midfield player, Steven Gerrard, in a position out on the left.

Gerrard did well enough against the Slovenians from this station, but we are not getting the best from him. I do not think Capello will change unless he drops Lampard and I just do not see that happening either. So it will not surprise me if he goes into the German game with the same line-up.

I think Matthew Upson did enough to keep his position alongside Terry. They have played together more frequently which gives us a bit of unity and Upson has a touch more pace which we are going to need now.

If Rooney is injured, then maybe that throws open a different strategy for Capello, who clearly does not fancy Peter Crouch to start games but I am not sure Jermain Defoe can play the role of a lone striker.

Defoe is a forward who lives on the edge of defenders’ shoulders, not a man to play others in with his back to goal, so a Rooney injury could force a Capello re-think.

But, other than that, I see him sticking with this team. I think he’s missing a trick, but he’s got us into the last 16 and that’s all he can be judged on.