England were expected to coast past DR Congo.
It didn’t exactly turn out quite like that.
There again, why would anybody have expected that to be the case?
England had a pretty generous group but apart from one very good (second) half against Croatia they have been poor to average. Terrible against Ghana and a goalless draw, then more of the same against Panama until goals from Bellingham and Kane in the final half hour papered over the cracks.
On Wednesday in Atlanta there were plenty of cracks that needed filling and Thomas Tuchel has nowhere near enough Polyfilla (other brands are available) to fill them.
What England do have is character though.
That is what got them through against DR Congo.
Declan Rice summed that character up for me. I have never been his biggest fan. I always thought he was a good player but no more than that. I still don’t think he is World class or anything daft like that but I now accept he is one of England’s best and most key players and the ground he covered was astonishing. He even ended up filling the problem right-back position in the final 20 minutes or so.
He wasn’t the only one to run his socks off all match, the likes of Bellingham and Anderson did the same.
Back in the day, in the 1960s, 1970s 1980s, 1990s, England always had very good to excellent goalkeepers and defences, with rare exceptions. These days, Jordan Pickford isn’t in the best 20 keepers at this World Cup and struggles to get into the top 20 Premier League ones…
Just having a laugh, he probably scrapes into the top 15 EPL ones at any particular time. All the clubs with money have foreign goalkeepers and have done for some time, which answers the question of how (not so) good Pickford is. None of the clubs with money have ever tried to buy him, that is why he has stayed at Everton so long.
He was badly at fault when Cipenga beat him at his near post after seven minutes. Pickford is not alone though, it appears that whatever combination of defenders Thomas Tuchel plays at this World Cup, they always look likely to concede, on a regular basis. The defence was also over the place when conceding and fact is that Spence is a squad player at Spurs who have finished fourth bottom the last two seasons with a poor defence…on the other side of the pitch Nico O’Reilly is clearly not a defender. Whilst in the middle, Konsa and Guehi are generally okay defenders but due to playing in the Premier League, as England players they are so ridiculously hyped, which is a common theme generally with this national team.
Madueke is a squad player at Arsenal and is average at best, Rashford a nomad who forced Man U into panicking and giving him a £20m a year contract as they were losing him on a free. He has hardly played for them since then and has been out on loan at clubs without anybody willing to permanently take on his wages and a transfer fee.
Madueke was poor against DR Congo and Rashford terrible.
As I said earlier, Declan Rice has really grown on me but he is mostly a water carrier not a creative talent, whilst for me, Elliot Anderson is purely a water carrier, a David Batty and most definitely not a Gazza. Again though, because they are English players in the Premier League they are so over-hyped. Good but no better.
England have two real quality players and if you are honest, they are pretty much the only ones you ever really think might score in any particular game. In this one Harry Kane was starved of decent service most of the match, so it was left to Jude Bellingham and whilst he was the only one who looked like he could make things happen, he contrived to fail with two headers he should have buried for sure. The DR Congo did make two very good saves but should have been given no chance.
As was the case with Yoane Wissa just before half-time. He hit the post when he should have scored and at 2-0 it would have been game over. At that point it would have been no more than DR Congo deserved. They were the better and more threatening team in the first half and clearly didn’t understand how to play. Their attacking players, especially on the wings, kept running at the defence and trying to beat them, trying to get dangerous balls into the box or shoot. Don’t they understand that is so naive these days, England showed them how to do it with endless passes sideways and backwards. Is there anything more depressing than the sight of England wingers getting into great positions with just a full-back to take on and…they turn around and dribble or pass it back. Why???
England should have had a penalty when Harry Kane was fouled by the keeper but that would have papered over first half cracks.
When you have such a poor to average keeper and defence, you then need an exceptional midfield and attack to stand a chance of going far in the tournament and England haven’t had much sign of that either.
That continued after the break and whilst England improved and DR Congo tired, they still didn’t create a lot of clear chances and the keeper only needing to make a couple more excellent saves.
With half an hour to go the wingers were finally replaced by Saka and Gordon.
I was really pleased for Anthony Gordon. Harry Kane will get all the headlines but it was the former United player who made such a difference, without him I think England would have lost.
I think Gordon is a much better option than Rashford and has to start against Mexico, I know he hasn’t been great at this World Cup but he is the only England player who really runs at the opposition, when given license to do so.
With 75 minutes on the clock he produced a really clever inch perfect cross and Kane’s movement meant he surely couldn’t miss. He didn’t.
With four minutes of normal time remaining and both teams looking knackered, Anthony Gordon with his second assist. His persistence saw him able to thread the ball through to Kane but the England striker did pretty much all of this one on his own. He isn’t quick but he is clever and he went across the defender and once he’d worked the space he lashed it Shearer-esque into the roof of the net and the keeper no chance.
The dream of ending 60 years of hurt lives on.
Character and Harry Kane (and Anthony Gordon) got England through this one and hopefully at 1am on Monday morning (UK time) they should be able to do it again against Mexico.
France are a million times better than England, Spain are much better, I think the likes of Argentina and Brazil have got better players as well.
As I said earlier, it is laughable how ridiculously over-hyped England players are, especially if playing in the Premier League. It is ironic, or is that telling(?), that the two proper quality England players both play abroad for Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. With arguably the next best attacking threat now having joined Barcelona.
As I also said earlier though, they have some big characters in this England team and just maybe if we end up playing the far better quality teams in the later stages, just maybe England could pull off one or two shocks against superior opposition.
First up though is Mexico.
The last 16 match will be played at altitude and that obviously helps the hosts. Whilst at the Azteca stadium, Mexico have played 89 competitive matches, winning 70 of those 89 and have lost only twice! The crowd will be almost entirely supporting the home side as well.
However, England should beat Mexico. The vast majority of those matches at the Azteca are against poor opposition sides in CONCACAF qualifying, whilst the biggest attacking threat is Premier League journeyman striker Raul Jimenez.
A win would take England through to a quarter-final clash against Brazil or Norway.
The challenge is on.
Some of the reaction after England 2 DR Congo 1.
Harry Kane: “It feels amazing to be honest. What a crazy game. They are a tough team and then after that first break we were much better and their keeper made some unbelievable saves. We spoke about people having hero moments and it can be anyone. It was me today.”
Elliot Anderson: “It was a tough game but we stuck by each other until the very end and we got through.”
Thomas Tuchel: “We kept believing. We had the worst start possible. First shot, first goal. Then, it became even more difficult. After the first water break, we were on top of the game. I think we should have had a penalty. The substitutes came on, and put the effort in, and we won it. Well deserved, but we had to work a lot. We have to have that mindset if it is getting hard, it is getting hard, but don’t lose patience and don’t lose belief.”
Wayne Rooney: “For me, there are big concerns. In particular, when England lose the ball they are so open. Against a better team I think we’re in big trouble if we don’t sort that out. We are so open in midfield.”