da spicy bet： Last night was a testing one for England fans, watching a side assembled of highly-paid Premier League stars being outfought and, for large periods, outplayed by a Slovenia team 55 places below them in the FIFA rankings.
da betano casino： During a scoreless draw at Stadion Stozice, England claimed 67% possession but could do little with it, managing just four shots on target throughout the 90 minutes, none of which truly tested the extremities of the ability of goalkeeper Jan Oblak – a Champions League quality shot-stopper who plies his domestic trade as Atletico Madrid’s No.1.
It was a steep learning curve for interim manager Gareth Southgate, who attempted to explain the underwhelming performance and result by declaring he’d inherited a “mess” – alluding to the Three Lions’ debasing exit from EURO 2016 and Sam Allardyce’s abrupt departure following The Telegraph’s investigation into corruption in football.
Nonetheless, the England national team are obliged to learn from their errors and so are we at FootballFanCast. With that in mind, here are FIVE lessons we took from last night’s dissonant draw.
Southgate isn’t ready yet
Southgate’s looked the part on the training ground and in press conferences, answering difficult questions – not least including about the diminishing role of captain Wayne Rooney – in the calm and measured manner many have come to expect of the former Middlesbrough boss.
But England’s performances on the pitch haven’t matched Southgate’s in front of the camera. If a 2-0 win over Malta could be justified by three more points in World Cup Qualifying Group F, a draw with Slovenia didn’t produce any real silver lining. Throughout both sets of 90 minutes, the Three Lions lacked creativity, decisiveness and drive. The Malta match felt like a training exercise and for large periods, the Slovenia draw descended into disorganised chaos.
Southgate may come across in the right manner, but his selections and tactical approaches haven’t paid off.
England are still hurting from that Iceland defeat
There was a 10-minute spell after Slovenia hit the post when the England side that crashed out of the European Championship at the hands of Iceland suddenly re-emerged. A wayward Eric Dier backpass, finding its way to Slovenia’s danger man, Josip Ilicic, triggered nerves and the Three Lions quickly became the Bambi-legged rabble who couldn’t control a ball – let alone pass it to each other – as they suffered the most humiliating defeat in our national team’s history.
Whilst some will use this as ammunition in the never-ending debate over how footballers are produced in this country, and whether they’re trained to the right skill set, it’s abundantly clear this group of players are thwart by the entrenched fear of history repeating itself. Too young and talented to cast aside, England may have to accept frosty skirmishes with European minnows until this current generation reaches its natural expiration.
Wayne Rooney isn’t the problem
There was always a populist element to Southgate’s decision to drop Rooney, even if he claimed it was purely a tactical call to sure up England’s engine room away from home. His long-range passing may bemuse some but the Three Lions lacked that direction to their attack against Slovenia; Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier just couldn’t control the game in the same way and in fact contributed heavily to England suffocating their own momentum with basic errors.
The Three Lions skipper failed to change the game after coming on from the bench for Dele Alli. But last night’s draw surely eradicated the myth that an out-of-form Rooney is the ultimate cause of England’s inability to inspire going forward.
Alli’s still inconsistent at this level
With Rooney cast aside, Alli was given the chance to prove he could be England’s star man last night – or at the very least, an integral figure as their resident No.10. The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder appears destined to undertake that duty for the best part of the next decade, perhaps even longer, but his failure to provide a decisive pass against Slovenia – or put the ball into the net himself – suggested a young player who is still yet to find his consistency at international level.
It’s not only last night’s match where this has been evident. Alli showed sparks of brilliance at Euro 2016 but finished the tournament without a goal or an assist. Contrast that with a goal and arguably the performance of the match against Malta on Saturday.
Joe Hart should still be England’s No.1
Sent packing to Torino by Pep Guardiola after committing two incredibly costly errors at EURO 2016, Joe Hart is undoubtedly amid the most turbulent spell of his career, with his long-term future at Manchester City completely up in the air and a number of rivals – such as Fraser Forster and Jack Butland – for his England jersey emerging.
But Hart proved how invaluable an asset he is last night with a world-class save – one of three he made throughout the 90 minutes – to prevent Slovenia taking the lead. It wasn’t just his shot-stopping that stood out; the 29-year-old continuously orchestrated an aimless backline and was one of the first to rush over as Jesse Lingard looked certain to earn himself a red card for off-the-ball handbags.
Last night’s performance not only underlined Hart’s quality – something we’re all aware of already – but also his leadership role within the squad.