by fan_of_mulligan » Tue Jun 21, 2016 2:57 pm
Very difficult to break down a team who have eleven men behind the ball and there has been some exceptional defending throughout this tournament, England are not the only team to be frustrated with a goal-less draw, Germany 0-0 Poland, France 0-0 Switzerland and Portugal 0-0 Austria - and Ronaldo missed a penalty, so why have some of our supporters gone into meltdown because we have failed to secure victory against A Slovakia Side who have beaten Germany prior to this tournament starting, and Slovakia beat Spain in qualification for Euro 2016 ??? - I do think there is a level or arrogance among our supporters who have a mentality that because we're England we only have to turn up to win because we're playing little Slovakia, I am not saying England should be pleased with the point, I am disappointed that we couldn't break Slovakia down last night, but we have to acknowledge the excellent defensive display from Slovakia.
Jamie Vardy, Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne all had efforts saved by Slovakia Goalkeeper and Matus Kozacik saw his goal-bound effort somehow kept out by Martin Skrtel when I thought that effort was in, but our passing and movement needs to be so quick and precise to break down a resolute defensive display from Slovakia and I don't think either Ryan Bertrand or Nathaniel Clyne got enough low crosses in to really test Slovakia's defence, England needed to get in and behind Slovakia, and when we did that, England create chances, which is why Adam Lallana and Jamie Vardy were able to force Matus Kozacik to make solid saves, and I saw solid saves because Adam Lallana had to strike the ball first time and the ball was at the right height for Matus Kozacik to make the save, and Jamie Vardy perhaps could of tried to go for either corner, but Vardy was under pressure from A Slovakia Defender to strike the ball first time.
Wayne Rooney, Dele Alli and Harry Kane all came on as England tried to find the winner, but Slovakia brought on defensive substitutions in Norbert Gyömber, A Centre Back, Milan Škriniar, A Centre Back and Dušan Švento, A Left Back to keep that Slovakia Penalty Area as compact as possible, those substitutions earned Slovakia the point they needed to reach The Last Sixteen as one of the best four third placed teams in the group, but England need to get back on the training ground and start working on how to break teams down, because this will be a feature of the tournament, as I am sure that Iceland, Hungary and Austria will play with this same defensive line up in the last sixteen, Portugal will have to give it a go against England because Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho are both experienced centre back's, but they have been less then convincing from what I saw from The Portugal V Iceland Game.
Roy Hodgson made six changes to the team, fair enough Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge both started, they both deserved to start after there impact against Wales, but Nathaniel Clyne, Ryan Bertrand, Jack Wilshire and Jordan Henderson, I am not so sure, clearly Roy Hodgson was looking to unify the squad by giving as many players game-time and had England won against Slovakia then we wouldn't be talking about the six changes, but the draw means that we're talking about these changes, but even if Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Wayne Rooney, Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling all started, would we have broken Slovakia down, that is the question that will remain unanswered, Slovakia wouldn't have changed there approach to the game unless England scored, and that's the problem, England haven't scored in the first half of all three Group Game Matches we have played in and the players must also have blame attached to them as well as Roy Hodgson, the players are on the pitch, once they cross the white line what happens in the ninety minutes is there responsibility, and England could have lost had Slovakia capitalized on that mistake between Joe Hart and Chris Smalling - mostly Chris Smalling's mistake as he should have cleared the ball.
Now for positives, Eric Dier was out-standing in the defensive holding midfielder role and that pass through to Daniel Sturridge was remarkable, his positioning was excellent as usual, and Eric Dier has all the attributes to be a world class defensive holding midfielder, he is the only player who has started to have scored for England in this tournament and Eric Dier along with Wayne Rooney have to be one of the first name's on the team-sheet, before Euro 2016 started, I thought Wayne Rooney would struggle to get into the starting line up, but Wayne Rooney the midfielder is showing all the attributes required for a midfielder, as Rooney's passing and switching of play has been a feature of this tournament.
I also found it interesting what Slaven Bilić had to say, he mentioned that Wayne Rooney hasn't had to come on as a substitute so he doesn't have to come on and be an impact player, compared to Andy Carroll - how we could have done with his aerial presence last night - who knows how to come on and make an impact, this tournament has been a tournament for substitutes, Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge have proved that in The Wales Game, and how I was hoping for one of Dele Alli, Wayne Rooney or Harry Kane to make the breakthrough, but Slovakia held on for the point.
Credit to Wales for tearing Russia apart last night, Russia had to go for it and I think that played into there hands, but Russia were woeful and not beating them in the opening game is why England haven't topped the group, but Gareth Bale is the world class player England are lacking, we have got some promising players who are playing in there first tournament, but how many players have England have got that are world class ??? - maybe Wayne Rooney, England have got several elite players, but elite players are in the tier below world class players, I think this group of players can grow together for 2018, 2020 and 2022, but we need a performance from this group of players now that puts down a real marker, we saw that in 1996 when England won 4 - 1 against The Netherlands, we haven't seen that performance from England so far, despite the fact that we're dominating possession and creating chances.
As for the next game, I would stick with the 4.3.3 formation England have been playing, the diamond midfield formation has been less then convincing and England have the players to make The 4.3.3 work really well, we're just not stretching teams and using the full width of the pitch, and we need to put in more low crosses to open up tight and compact defences, credit to Slovakia, they had a game-plan, and implemented that plan to perfection, yes it is frustrating, yes England didn't win, but we should also give credit where credit is duo because Slovakia had to earn that point last night, Hopefully now we're in the knock-out stages we will see teams go for it more.
There has been a lot of talk about Roy Hodgson's future as England Manager while the tournament has been on-going, which for me personally is un-fair, and any decision for Roy Hodgson to stay or go, should be made once Euro 2016 is over, but what are your thoughts and opinion's on Roy Hodgson ??? Do you think he should remain as England Manager or does Roy Hodgson have to take England to The Quarter Finals / Semi Finals to remain in charge for qualification for The 2018 World Cup, if not, is there someone you want to see take over as England Manager, or would you wait for Euro 2016 to finish, before making any decisions on The England Manager ???