Jerome Thomas

[Leeza]

To be honest, I think the ex-Arsenal trainee is a better option for England than Downing. Takers?

[DmanDmythDledge]

When he first came onto the scene 2 years ago I thought that Downing was marginally a better player. Now the gap is much bigger as Thomas hasn't progressed at the same rate as Downing, mainly due to him not being a regular anymore. He would be behind Joe Cole in the pecking order as well anyway.

[tetsujin1979]

I reckon because of Downing's history of working with McLaren he's always going to get the benefit of the doubt. Even injured for the majority of last season, he still managed to come second or third in assists for Boro, and the season before that he came from nowhere to be in the top 10 for assists for the premiership!
He was poor against Macedonia tonight, as were England in general, but a win's a win, right?