Most people believed that Euro 2012 counted as a ‘free tournament’ for England; one in which the chaos that surrounded the side prior to the tournament led to hugely decreased expectations regarding England’s chances of progress. This attitude will be less likely to prevail in Rio de Janeiro in two years time, as evinced by the Mirror’s patently ludicrous headline, in which they quoted captain Steven Gerrard as suggesting that England could win in 2014.
One would think that after such vainglorious rallying cries in 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004 and 2002, England’s players would have learned to steer well clear of saying anything that could be construed as implying a victory in a major championships, but evidently this is not so. For my part, I would be happy to see England qualify with relative ease in a group that includes Montenegro, Moldova, Poland, San Marino and Ukraine, before heading off to a tournament both injury free and without the ignoble shenanigans that usually precede a major tournament. Hence, I was hoping for a convincing win over Moldova, a side ranked a generous eighty-fifth in the world.
I say generous retrospectively, for Moldova were extremely poor. They contrived to make this workaday England side look rather good, something that happens all-too-rarely nowadays. I do not mean to be unjustifiably harsh on England, for one could argue that this squad is managing their resources far better than they did in the (supposedly) halcyon days of Sven-Goran Eriksson. The midfield looks rather less glittering than it did in the 2004-2008 days; Beckham has departed for good, as has Paul Scholes; though Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard remain, they are rather less than what they were.
Despite this, England controlled the game from the first minute to the last, the odd blip or two notwithstanding. Frank Lampard scored a third-minute penalty – his twenty-fourth international goal – that put him clear as England’s record penalty goalscorer, and from thereon in the result was effectively a foregone conclusion. In the past, I have bemoaned the fact that England struggle to put hugely inferior opposition to the sword after taking leads. One calls to mind 1-0 wins over Slovenia, Ukraine and Macedonia, as well as a dire 2-0 victory over Andorra. Thus, it was extremely pleasing to see that England kept up the tempo for most of the first half, even if they tailed off in the second half somewhat.
This tempo was aided by excellent performances from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Tom Cleverley. Whilst the underwhelming class of their opposition must be taken into account, they frequently added drive and directness to last night’s attacking momentum. One is eager to see more of both players against better opposition. In the same vein, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard dovetailed rather more effectively than one recalls them doing throughout most of the Eriksson and McClaren years; Gerrard provided a reasonably solid performance, whilst Lampard showed the type of goalscoring nous that has both defined his career thus far and provides a compelling argument for his continued inclusion.
Whilst Lampard’s penalty-taking abilities could reasonably be expected to be filled by another player, few midfield players of English origin are renowned for goals such as Lampard’s second. Glen Johnson – hardly troubled defensively at right-back – delicately dinked a delivery into the center, which was obligingly let by the late run into the box and incisive finish that is so quintessentially Lampard’s. Defoe added another prior to the interval, an adroitly-taken first time effort for his seventeenth international goal on his fiftieth cap. I have long been a fan of Defoe’s finishing abilities, and hence believe that he has earned a start in Tuesday’s qualifier against Ukraine. With Rooney injured, Defoe is undoubtedly the most clinical striker England possess.
Thus, Defoe, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Cleverley provided compelling evidence for their continued inclusion on Tuesday night, as did the defence. Moldova tested the England back line sporadically, but never enough to read too much into any of the performances. The emphasis was always likely to be on seeing how well the England attackers broke down a defensive side (albeit a poor one), as opposed to seeing how well the England defence resisted pressure.
This, I believe they did well. Five goals is not to be sniffed at in any international game, and it could well have been more. One would have been hard-pushed not to admire the composure with which England passed the ball around the box prior to their fourth goal, a very accomplished finish from James Milner. I would have preferred to see Theo Walcott start in a game of this kind, but Milner justified his inclusion with his goal. He lacks the customary qualities of a winger, but given the limited resources at Roy Hodgson’s disposal, one can see few alternatives – especially given injuries to Ashley Young and Adam Johnson, whom one would also prefer.
In fact, it was generally pleasing to see England’s patience in the attacking third, as well as their willingness to build from Joe Hart in open play. Of course, one must take any comments in the knowledge that England’s performance was relative to the quality of their opposition, but it is still preferable to see such composure in these games (as well as such a margin of victory) than a gritty 1-0 or 2-0 victory.
Thus, I believe that there are more reasons to be cheerful than otherwise from last night’s game. England did a job professionally and without fuss, something that could not be said very often in previous years. Ukraine will provide a sterner test of England’s credentials, but this England side is gaining a trait for efficiency that makes one believe that a home win is to be expected.
Regards,
Jack
jacknmoran 