Premature elation
Scenes of joy and despair, and we're not even at the tournament yet. England's deserved victory over Germany and defeat against Holland provided some lukewarm entertainment over the international break and, no doubt, plenty of food for thought for Roy Hodgson.
England's star performers from this season didn't disappoint. Vardy scored a fantastic flick and rounded off a great team move with a goal in each, and Harry Kane bagged a neat goal too. Eric Dier and Danny Drinkwater were very solid in their respective games and Dele Alli put in a fantastic performance in Berlin, notwithstanding a shocking miss near the end. The only real disappointment will have been conceding 4 goals over the two games. None of the defenders played particularly badly on an individual level, but here was yet more proof that a defence needs a long longer to gel than an attack.
What these games didn't provide, however, was any indication of England's standing in world football, or their chances at the Euros in the summer. I watched a very energetic England team run rings around the most lacklustre German side I've ever seen, only to see nine of the players who finished the game in Berlin involved in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Dutch in one of the most boring England friendlies I've ever seen, and that's a competitive category.
Don’t get carried away
So how did 2 such similar teams triumph over the world champions and then lose to a team who didn't even qualify for the Euros? It's because friendlies don't matter. Don't be fooled by the temporary elation after Eric Dier's header, when the young midfielder returns to chasing the title with Tottenham next week, Berlin will be a distant memory, it looked a bit like a testimonial. The ecstasy shown by the players and the bench was a bit embarrassing in the context. Manuel Neuer conceded three soft goals and didn't once get angry enough to slam his hand into the turf as he did when the Germans let in one goal in their demolition of Brazil.
Every time this happens the old adage “You can only beat what’s in front of you” gets polished up and brought out. Like every old adage it’s undeniably true. It also misses the point entirely. What friendlies do is give us false impressions; we place too much emphasis on a victory over a German side who, in the second half, played more at the level of their Austrian or Swiss neighbours, with all due respect.
Who will be on the pitch in France?
Don’t get me wrong, friendlies are not unimportant. They give the players time to play together and provide the manager with the opportunity to try out different formations.
So who shone the most? The most obvious beneficiaries of the two friendlies are Kane, Vardy and Alli. We can say with some degree of certainty that all three will be on the plane (or train) to Paris. The back four who started the game in Berlin will, barring any injuries, be the defence who start the game against Russia on 11th June. John Stones, after being the subject of much transfer speculation in the summer, has been having a bit of a patchy season and didn’t have a great game against Holland, slipping in the lead up to the first Dutch goal.
There is a lot less certainty about the positions further forward. Jordan Henderson is the most likely starter in a central position, with Drinkwater or, more likely, Dier to partner him. Despite Vardy’s brilliance and Wayne Rooney’s pedigree, Harry Kane has to be a starter for me, which leaves three positions behind him up for grabs. Raheem Stirling will most probably start if and when he is fit and, captain Rooney is very capable of sitting behind the striker. However competition is fierce, with Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge, Ross Barkley, Dele Alli and Adam Lallana all fighting for places. You could field two very strong attacking line-ups from Hodgson’s available players. For me, despite his inexperience, Alli has done enough to get a starting place ahead of Rooney or Barkley. Sturridge's recent return to form has come just in time for the summer and, in my opinion, that should see him start ahead of Lallana and the inconsistent Welbeck. All in all it’s a stronger side than the one we saw in Brazil.
My Starting XI:
Hart
Clyne Smalling Cahill Rose
Dier Henderson
Sturridge Alli Stirling
Kane
Comments
Post a Comment