England Show Swiss Precision



guardian.co.uk

 In a performance that would give heart to many a disillusioned England fan, Roy Hodgson’s young lions grabbed an excellent 2-0 win in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier in Basel this evening.

Memories of that ignominious World Cup showing seemed to have been cast aside, well for the time being anyway, as England secured a vital win in what will undoubtedly be seen as their toughest qualifying test.

In a line-up that saw Aston Villa midfielder Fabian Delph make his full international début within an up-to-now virtually untested 4-4-2 diamond system, England showed their fans that they perhaps may just be able to restore some pride in the nation’s football side.

Following the 1-0 victory over Norway at Wembley at the end of last week in a front of a nauseatingly underwhelming 40,000 odd crowd, tonight’s performance would have been exactly what the doctor would have ordered for this previously considered to be ailing side.
England showed an effective amount of fluidity and grit against a Switzerland side ranked amongst the World’s top ten and the fourth best in Europe – according to FIFA’s rankings.

Despite a shaky start, especially for the boisterous Delph whose adrenaline certainly got the better of him and perhaps could have seen him sent off for two yellow card worthy lunges inside ten minutes, England managed to show all the qualities of a side capable, perhaps, eventually, maybe, of competing once more with the best that Europe has to offer.

Delph, like England, grew into the game and began to show some of the qualities that merited his inclusion in the side by Hodgson. Strong, athletic and a strong runner with the ball, Delph had a solid, quietly impressive, full debut.

England carried an attacking threat throughout the First Half, but poor decision making in the final third again continued to blight any hope of finding the net, reminiscent of the impotence in front of goal that we fans are now so accustomed to. Twice England found themselves baring down on goal at pace in numbers, but both Sterling and Welbeck spurned the chance to a tee up an England opener. An exquisite chip from Jack Wilshere fell perfectly for a Rooney wonder volley, but the Manchester United captain elected to take a touch rather than leather it, epitomising England’s lack of confidence in front of goal.

Rooney put in a performance of the highest order however, integral to every England move in the final third, the formation seemingly freeing him up to roam with Sterling in the hole behind centre forward Welbeck. A Rooney shot was palmed away by Swiss keeper Sommer, leading to a corner that saw a Phil Jones header superbly pushed away again by the stopper before the interval.

The tactical set up certainly seemed to suit England. Sterling, perhaps not his best performance in an England shirt, much accredited to the marshalling of the excellent Valon Behrami and the classy Gokhan Inler, who protected the Swiss defence impressively, found himself at the forefront of a diamond with Wilshere at the rear. The Arsenal midfielder certainly is no Andrea Pirlo, and his inability to successfully take the ball off Jones and Cahill nor shake off the marking of Seferovic meant his night’s work wasn’t as effective as it perhaps could have been. He was unsurprisingly replaced around the hour mark by the better suited James Milner.

England still look vulnerable at the back. Jones recovered from a nervy start that led to correctly dismissed penalty appeals for a foul on Seferovic. Seferovic produced a fine stop from Hart after Jones gave the ball away, however the United man recovered and he and Cahill showed signs that another solid England centre-half pairing could be in the offing. Right-back remains England’s biggest question mark, with Stones uncomfortable on the night whilst Glen Johnson is quite frankly a liability. It’s about time Nathaniel Clyne gets his chance to show what he can offer on the right flank.

England opened the scoring in a manner that is now beginning to characterise the style of football Hodgson’s men play. A swift counter-attack, orchestrated by Rooney and finished by new Arsenal man Danny Welbeck showed that England do have the ability to get it right in the final third, in a style that will gain many admirers.

Gary Cahill showed the fruits of being an understudy to a former England captain at Chelsea with a John Terry-esque clearance to deny Drmic an equaliser after the Swiss forward rounded Hart. Switzerland upped the ante yet never seemed to get the better of England’s defence. Seferovic struck the crossbar after a delicious Drmic centre but was flagged offside, whilst Hart produced a fine stop to deny Seferovic again, this time palming a firm drive with one hand over the bar.

England’s second reflected the first, with time running out and Switzerland pressing for an equaliser during five highly generous minutes of stoppage time, it was Danny Welbeck who showed true precision to round off another counter attack following unselfish play from Lambert.

Selflessness is an attribute that best describes this England framework. None of the players, bar Rooney, Hart and perhaps a couple of others can truly be described as seasoned internationals. This showed, with every player working for the team rather than individual ambition. None more so was this evident from Captain Rooney, who led by example through his Man of the Match display.

The lights certainly haven’t gone out on England yet, even if they did during their pre-match press conference. Some commentators have even gone as far as to call the display England’s finest under Hodgson. I am inclined to agree. A clean sheet, three points, two goals and a win away from home in what was supposed to be the toughest test en route to qualification.

Undoubtedly there is work to be done, in defence and in particular adding a real clinical edge to England’s attacking play. But the framework is there. The players are there. A renaissance? Perhaps not, but a step in the right direction nonetheless.