England dodge bullet

Columbia 1 v England 1 (England win 4-3 on penalties)

First off the above in brackets is not a typing error as for once in a major championship, England managed to win a penalty shoot-out. Apparently Manager Gareth Southgate has made penalty taking a regular part of the training schedule and on the 3rd July 2018 against Columbia in the last 16 of the World Cup finals that strategy paid huge dividends. Hats off to all those who stepped forward, and particularly Eric Dier, on whose shoulders the hopes of a nation rested. The jubilant end was in marked contrast to the 120 minutes that had preceded it as matters sashayed from hope to despair to resignation that England’s World Cup journey would once again end in abject defeat. But it’s never over until the you know what and after more penalty shoot-out failures than Cheryl Cole marriage break ups, we were due a change in fortune.

…. and yet… and yet. As a game this was possibly the worst of the eight that have been played to decide those who go through to the quarter finals. Yes Columbia were by some margin the most cynical of opponents, more concerned with spoiling tactics than trying to score a goal. The beautiful game it was not, but in so doing their game plan exposed England’s limited footballing credentials. In 120 minutes of football the three lions just about created two chances in open play - the missed header by Deli Alli and Danny Rose’s extra time half chance from an acute angle – by any reckoning a poor return against such mediocre opponents.

In pre tournament interviews Gareth Southgate had talked about England’s previous inability to control games at major tournaments. Yet here once again that self same circumstance was writ large. Where was the England midfield? Who was pulling the strings making the ball do the work and seeking that killer pass? Sad to say you will never control anything with Jordan Henderson in midfield and Raheem Sterling in the hole. One can’t pass the other can’t control the ball. Moreover, though Eric Dier scored the winning penalty Southgate’s decision to use him as a replacement for Deli Alli was an error. With fifteen minutes of normal time still to play England needed a Loftus Cheek or a Rashford to get hold of the ball and run at the Columbian defence. The move smacked of the negative thinking that has been the downfall of all his managerial predecessors.

In the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 & 2016 European Championships the early England performances were so dire that one felt that they would eventually break out of their torpor and show us what they were really made of. But it never happened because of a debilitating marriage of fear with plodding football. That trajectory is playing itself out again for following wins against the might of Tunisia and Panama England have lost to Belgium B and just scraped through against Columbia. At no stage in these last two games have they shown anything close to fluidity of movement, ball retention, game control and chances created. And yet the seemingly favoured path to the semi finals has raised English hope.

But at some point the performance on the pitch has to match the expectation. Manager Southgate now needs to think long and hard about what will comprise his most creative 11. Because that which started against Columbia, was not it.

©Mark Brennand