An English icon and a French one/Asif Burhan
Englishman Simon Moyse wrote about soccer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and now has his own site called Are you serious Englishman?
Unconvincing England can ride patriotic fervor of leaving Europe to stay in Europe
by Simon Moyse
So what of England?
Having finally rid themselves of the shackles of most of the not-so-golden generation (Rooney is hanging on by his fingernails), there was a considerable amount of anticipation of this team going into the tournament.
Unusually, the team had rolled through their qualifying group (albeit a fairly weak one) with considerable ease, winning all ten games with a mind-boggling goal difference of +28.
As an attacking unit, there was much to be excited about, with the team being built around the Tottenham Hotspur trio of Eric Dier, Dele Alli, and Harry Kane, all young, exciting players that had had inspired seasons in leading Spurs in their first decent title challenge in 742 years.
Add to that the pace, power and finishing ability of Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy, the speed of Raheem Sterling, the guile of Daniel Sturridge, plus whatever it is that Wayne Rooney does, and you had a potentially explosive attacking unit.
The worries were on the defensive side, with the team having shown considerable frailty in the friendlies leading up to the tournament, and Chris Smalling’s red card in the FA Cup final epitomizing his worrying tendency for making major mistakes. Still, there was a feeling that this team should, at least, be fun to watch
.
Then the group stage came, and in the immortal words of Queens of the Stone Age, the fun machine took a sh*t and died.
It started off well enough. England went at Russia with considerable verve in the first half of the first game and had numerous chances to score, but failed to do so. As the game wore on, England labored, and it ultimately took an Eric Dier free kick for them to score, only for the Russians to then equalize in stoppage time during their first concerted spell of attacking of the entire game.
Harry Kane played as a lone striker v Russia
Photo: THFC
Roy Hodgson had started the game with Kane effectively as a lone striker, with Sterling and Adam Lallana playing as wingers to either side of him, and it didn’t really work, with Sterling, in particular, having a torrid game.
The second game, against Wales, started with a similar formation, and this time it was even worse, with England trailing 1-0 at half time after a completely listless first half performance.
Mercifully, Vardy and Sturridge came on for the second half, and having reverted to the traditional English 4-4-2, they looked considerably more dangerous after the break. Vardy equalized ten minutes in, and then Sturridge popped up in stoppage time to poke home the winner.
Hodgson retained the 4-4-2 for the third game, against Slovakia, albeit with a much-changed line up with qualification pretty much assured. Slovakia set out their stall for a 0-0 draw that would all but assure their qualification, and duly achieved it with a dogged defensive display. England didn’t play badly in that game, and would have won with any luck at all, but still lacked a bit of cutting edge in the final third.
All in all, it was a somewhat disappointing group stage, as the attacking corps just didn’t fire as expected, and although the defense looked good overall, this was tempered by the fact that none of their opponents really put them under any serious pressure at any point in the three games, except for that last ten minutes against Russia when it then wilted all too easily.
In truth, it was something of a relief that Iceland pulled out that late winner against Austria, meaning that England would be facing them in the next round instead of Portugal.
England have lost to Portugal a few times fairly recently in major tournaments (the 2004 Euros and the 2006 World Cup, as well as a key group game in the 2000 Euros), and I’m not sure this team is quite ready to face Ronaldo et al quite yet.
While England’s attacking plan didn’t really work in the group stage, this game gives Hodgson a chance to reset his team, and start to develop a plan that can get the team deep in the tournament. While Iceland clearly won’t be pushovers, one would hope that even a moderately effective England performance would be enough to get them through to the next round.
My expectation is that we will see a 4-4-2 again from Hodgson for this game, with Kane up top with one of Vardy or Sturridge. Personally, I would go with Vardy, just because his pace and aerial ability gives you so many options, plus he is the best finisher.
Sterling has to be unlikely to start given his performances so far, although thankfully he hasn’t slumped as low as the other Sterling, but Lallana has shown some good touches at times so I think he will retain his spot alongside Alli, Dier and Rooney in midfield.
The defense of Rose, Cahill, Smalling and Walker which started the first two games will likely start this one too, with Walker, in particular, having impressed as an attacking force from the full back spot.
I remain quietly confident about England’s prospects in this tournament. Historically, England’s tendencies in these big tournaments have been to make hard work of the group stage, then come to life once the knockout stages begin, only to then bow out heroically to a top opponent just as it starts to get interesting (often on penalties).
They have undoubtedly checked the first box over the last couple of weeks, but I still have a feeling that this England team might have a bit more up their sleeve than previous incarnations. Their friendly victory against Germany in Berlin in the lead up to the tournament showed what they are capable of. Victory over Iceland would mean a likely date with France in Paris in the quarter finals, and I’m not entirely sold on this France team yet in spite of their undoubted talent.
Riding a wave of patriotic fervor resulting from leaving the EU (!), maybe it is possible that this England team can go all the way…..
England v Iceland: There’s still one England not ready to leave Europe
EURO2016
][/column]
