England, unfortunately, gave one of those all too
familiar mixed bag of a performance, and in the first half especially
they were outplayed by a lively Swiss team. Too many home players
seemed to have nothing left after a long, hard season. Joe Hart was by
far the busier of the two goalkeepers and as early as the sixth minute
he was down smartly to save Derdiyok's low shot. The midfield was very
congested from the outset. Scott Parker won the ball a few times but
then promptly gave it away again, Frank Lampard just could not get into
the game and it was left to Jack Wilshere to try and create a bit of
space. The Swiss meanwhile pressed England well and none of the home
players had much time to dwell on the ball. Theo Walcott once again
showed how infuriating he can be. Getting in good positions is not
difficult for him, he does it regularly, but sometimes he forgets to
take the ball with him and when he remembered that, his execution of the
final pass let him down. One wonders if he needs a better coach to
bring the best out of him? Imagine what he would be like under a Brian
Clough, or a Bill Shankly.
One good England move saw James Milner head over
and then Rio Ferdinand saw a header from Lampard's cross also fly over
the bar. Ashley Cole had injured himself when blocking a Swiss attack
and had to be replaced by Leighton Baines. It unsettled England a
little and almost immediately Switzerland decided to take a firm grip of
the game with two goals in three minutes. A free-kick from Barnetta out
on the left curled in dangerously to the far post. Somebody, anybody,
in the England defence should have taken command of the situation but
all they could do was watch as the ball sailed into the far corner.
Acute embarrassment for Ferdinand, John Terry and especially Hart who
was very static on his line. If that was bad, then two minutes later even worse was to follow. Again Barnetta had a free-kick on the left,
Hart built a two-man wall, but when the Swiss number seven fired a shot
low at the near post England were again found wanting. Milner,
inexplicably, parted from Walcott in the wall leaving a gap for Barnetta
to exploit. Hart, meanwhile, seemed half asleep and somehow contrived
to let the ball in at the foot of the near post. Two awful goals had
left England with a mountain to climb.
What happened next probably rescued England from
a disastrous defeat. Within a minute of the goal Wilshere picked the
ball up on the half-way line and attacked the heart of the Swiss
defence, his first shot was blocked but he followed up to pounce on the
rebound. His Arsenal teammate John Djourou lunged at Wilshere and
brought the youngster down for what was an obvious penalty. Up stepped
Lampard to convert the spot-kick and England had been given a lifeline.
Before the break England had another half-chance when Darren Bent headed
over, when perhaps he could have done better. Overall though the Swiss
kept possession well for long periods to frustrate England, and with the
home players chasing shadows at times the tiredness looked even more evident. Manager Fabio Capello would need to gee his players up for the
second half, and one last push from the long season.
To his credit Capello made an immediate change,
bringing on Ashley Young for the ponderous Lampard, to inject a bit more
pace to the attack. Many of the pundits and fans had questioned Young's
omission from the starting line-up, and he was soon to emphasise his
determination to make an impact.
England began the half on the front foot and
Young sent Walcott through with a good pass. Again Djourou fouled the
winger, this time right on the edge of the box, but incredibly the
referee, who did have a good game, made his first real mistake by waving
play on. Within five minutes of the restart England scored a fine goal,
out of keeping with the rest of their performance. Young and Milner
worked the ball on the left, and Milner cleverly spotted Baines's
darting run into the box and delicately chipped a pass to the Everton
full-back. Baines chested the ball down into the path of Young and his
first-time shot found the far corner. Immediate impact or what!
From that moment it did look as though England
were capable of going on to win, but a combination of good goalkeeping
and poor finishing snuffed out that thought. At least there was now
much more energy from England and it was the Swiss who looked the more
tired of the two teams. Wilshere was booked for an over robust
challenge, but shortly afterwards the Arsenal player produced the pass
of the match to give Bent a golden chance. Credit Diego Benaglio in the
visitors goal for coming off his line smartly to block Bent's shot, but
you couldn't help thinking that the Villa striker might have done
better. On 68 minutes Young had another effort from Milner's pass
inside, which flew just over, and then three minutes later came the miss
of the match. Young, again, was at the heart of it as he picked up
possession and attacked the Swiss defenders. He eventually fired in a
good shot which Benaglio managed to parry, only to see the ball run
invitingly for Bent, totally unmarked and with an open goal to shoot
at. He couldn't miss, surely? He did!
For the last quarter of the match the Swiss
resumed their keep-ball possession and although they were restricted to
a couple of long-range efforts on goal, they largely held England at
bay. There were scares at either end before the ninety minutes were
up. Substitute Admir
Mehmedi hit a cross shot from the left that flew inches wide, and then
right on time another substitute Stuart Downing had a golden chance to
win it after Ferdinand's knock down in the box. Unfortunately Downing
hit the side-netting with his shot and the chance was lost.
Overall no-one could deny Switzerland deserved a
point and England showed many reasons why they are so frustrating to
watch at the moment. As for individual performances, too many England
players drifted through the game, Glen Johnson, for instance, did his
Crocodile Dundee impression by going walkabout too often, Parker won the
ball and lost it again too regularly for comfort, and Walcott flattered
to deceive, again.
On the plus side, Baines did well and Wilshere
was again the pick of the midfield. As for Young, he proved beyond
doubt that he should have started the match and his was a man of the
match performance in every sense. Oh well, at least the players can now
enjoy their holidays still top of the group, (Montenegro missed the
chance to take advantage of England's slip by only managing a home draw
with Bulgaria). Roll on August!
897.jpg)
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England
Team
Switzerland
Team
Source Notes