England: The unsung heroes....

As England progressed confidently (sort of) to the knock-out stages of Euro 2012, many of the player’s performances slip under the shadow of England’s headline men.

The likes of Wayne Rooney,Steven Gerrard, Joe Hart and John Terry take much of the recognition more often than not, so here we look at those players who just don’t get quite the praise they’ve deserved since the tournament began.

James Milner

Though to the naked eye he seemingly does little, but James Milner is actually filling the role intended for him by Roy Hodgson.

His deceptive lack of creativity is in fact made up by his superb defensive covering of Glenn Johnson. Milner excels in his ability to allow other players to push forward while he covers their position, and in doing this he has made right-back Johnson look a 100 times better than ever before.

His incredible ability to run forever despite looking absolutely shattered from minute one, will certainly aid England in their defensive bus parking when they meet Italy and hopefully Germany later in the tournament.

Scott Parker

Scott Parker has proved to be an excellent partner for Captain Gerrard in the centre of midfield, with his trustworthy defensive abilities allowing the Liverpool man to run further forward and assist almost every goal scored so far. He has also lived up to expectations by putting every part of his body in the way of the ball at some point during each of the group matches.

One worry is that England rely too much on Parker, with no real adequate replacements available. The Spurs man may have to play sincerely.

Glen Johnson

Being touted as ‘a load of rubbish’, Glen Johnson has clearly taken these remarks as a challenge and has tried so far to prove us wrong.

Johnson has looked solid in almost every department. His dismal performances in the 2010 World Cup have turned around to an almost unbelievable level; with the defender looking more positionally sound and less likely to leave his position dangerously open.

Ashley Cole

“Mr. Reliable” will never let you down. After 97 caps, Ashley Cole looks to be granted the title of ‘best England left-back”. It’s no surprise that Cole has been solid and consistent throughout the group stage of this tournament – he’s done it for years.

England need to search another Ashley Cole if they need to shine in the tournaments in the near future in absence of today’s Ashley Cole.

Joleon Lescott

Joleon Lescott has proved to be a reliable partner for John Terry in central defence, and If England will somehow crawl to the final and somehow, someway win the whole thing, Lescott will probably be able to call that position his own for life.

Lescott would have been unfortunate to miss out to Gary Cahill if the Chelsea man had made it to the tournament, as he has been equally impressive in the last Premier League campaign for Manchester City.

His goal against France was magnificent but somehow he received next to no credit for it, as national favourite Stevie Gerrard crossed the ball which sent everyone into frenzy.