WC2014 Engerland 1 – 2 Italy


Oh that sickening feeling as it becomes sadly obvious that something has gone horribly wrong

Oh that sickening feeling as it becomes sadly obvious that something has gone horribly wrong

Can A Loss Ever Be Good News?

It’s weird. I can’t help feeling less enthused for Engerland’s chances I ever have.  Yet I don’t feel despondent. I don’t think anyone realistically expects them to win the damn thing, and precious few expect them to get out of the group. What we all want, irrespective of results is an improvement in performance and some idea of future development.  In this, amazingly, Engerland just about delivered.

Stuffed Again, But Not Nearly As Badly As Last Time

Two years ago Italy well and truly trounced Engerland without ever actually scoring and it was left to Pirlo’s panenka penalty to ram home the message of total humiliation. This time, despite losing, Engerland came much closer. For a start our most effective passing wasn’t keeper Hart hoofing the ball to Andy Carroll (who’d then lose it to some Italian defender). Indeed, there wasn’t that much hoofing going on.

Overall, the youngsters looked confident and competent, albeit that it appeared they’d never met, let alone played with one another before. Sterling did some nice runs (to little coherent effect), Sturridge did some nice shot-hogging (to little coherent effect), Welbeck did some effective harrying and Rooney, no youngster he, produced his first assist in 3 World Cups. Yet there was no overall coherence, no real midfield control and some serious lapses in defence.

It seemed that Engerland had been set up to do two things. First, reduce the impact Pirlo had on the game and, second, to hit Italy on the break. This necessitated playing Sterling down the middle, with Rooney and Welbeck on either side and trying to use Henderson to restrict Pirlo. None of these really worked.

While Henderson may have restricted Pirlo a bit, he didn’t stop the Italian spraying balls to Ballotelli, who played a very disciplined game, while Rooney’s role left a gaping hole down Engerland’s left which the Italians ruthlessly exploited.  Indeed the Baines/Rooney axis was one of the key failures of the match. Equally, it never really disrupted the Italian defence enough to leave space behind them for the English to exploit, except for the one moment when Rooney broke down the left and crossed for Sturridge to hit home.

Ultimately, while the performance was better than in 2012, Engerland looked like a team with little coherence and an inability to adapt effectively. It was a bit shocking to discover that Engerland had never practiced the line up they started with, which you think Roy and co would have spent as much time working on as they did on acclimatisation. Equally, for players who have all played with or against Super Mario, you’d have expected them to be better equipped to deal with him.

Life In The Aftermath

Overall, it’s not the end of the world – that will come if Engerland lose to the Cheats of Uruguay on Thursday. And it’s certainly nothing like the psychic spanking the Spanish were given. Rather it was a vaguely promising performance from a team that no one expects much from. However, next match is a critical one, fail to win or perform poorly and it’s Hi Ho We’re Homeward Bound. And that wouldn’t be a great return.

Comments are closed.