Match Summary

After the euphoria of the win over Poland, which secured our place in Brazil next year, England came back down to earth with a bump as a very good Chile side beat them in some style at Wembley, thus repeating their win here in 1998, and showing the home players just what problems they might face in Rio. Chile played well, but England gave one of their poorest performances since Roy Hodgson took charge. 

Hodgson had to shuffle his pack as numerous players dropped out through injury, and he gave debuts to Adam Lallana, Jay Rodrigues and goalkeeper Fraser Forster.  England started brightly and pushed for an early goal.  On three minutes they almost got one as Phil Jones met a corner to power a header goalwards, only for Bravo to leap and palm the ball over.  Seconds later and there were more near misses as the ball flashed across goal from a James Milner's cross, with no-one able to make the crucial touch.  The first serious Chile attack came after seven minutes and they certainly showed England how to take their chance.  A quick break and England were opened up, two good defensive blocks seemed to have cleared the danger but as a cross came in from the left, Gary Cahill missed it and as the ball dropped Sanchez stooped to get in front of the flailing Leighton Baines to nod the ball wide of Forster.  It was a poor goal from an England point of view, but well taken by the in-form Alexis Sanchez.  England should have been 2-0 up, but now found themselves a goal down.

It was just what the Chileans wanted as they played their possession football, shut England down well, and looked dangerous every time they broke.  England were all over the place at times, and the makeshift side looked exactly what it was, makeshift.  Wayne Rooney ran his socks off up front for England with little support, and Milner was the pick of a poor midfield.  At the back Forster looked shell-shocked, his kicking was poor, he was slow off his line and at times you could see the lack of confidence the defenders had in him.  To be fair Forster did make a couple of saves, but his habit of pushing shots back out into the danger areas will surely be punished by the top sides.  Why do goalkeepers never want to hold on to the ball these days?

In many ways this was a typical South American performance by Chile, and a lesson to be learned by all the young England players.  At every opportunity the visitors fell to ground under a challenge, although it must be said that England played into their hands with some silly tackles.  Rodrigues just could not get into the game and although Lallana was lively, at times he wasn't sure whether to push up or stay back and he was often caught in between the two.

On twenty minutes Frank Lampard hit a good free-kick that was only just tipped over by the acrobatic goalkeeper.  Milner then had a shot deflected wide, but England wasted all their opportunities from the many corners they had, not once creating a clear chance.  On 24 minutes it was Jack Wilshere who fired in a shot following a better move by England.  Again the keeper was equal to it, although his punched save could have gone anywhere.  There were also chances at the other end as England's defenders still struggled.  A free header from a corner was wasted by Cardiff City's Medel, and each time Chile came forward they created problems for the shaky home defence.  All too often the loose ball was won by a Chilean, and England were beaten to too many second balls.  But credit to Chile, because they shut England down brilliantly, not always fairly, but certainly effectively. Every time Rooney gained possession, three defenders surrounded him.

On 40 minutes Jones saw a flick go just wide and then four minutes later Lallana had his one clear chance as England's best move of the match saw him clear to the right of goal.  Unfortunately for the Southampton player he dragged his shot wide of the far post.  The half ended with England facing many problems, too many unforced errors made it easier for the Chile side, although it has to be said that they didn't need any help from England to look the better team.

The second half was littered with lots of substitutions, long passages of play where Chile kept possession and England chased shadows, and few goalmouth incidents.  Chile were adept at taking the sting out of the game, always in control, and yet still threatening on the break.  England just couldn't find a foothold into the half and a Chile victory was on the cards long before the end.  Hodgson shuffled his pack again, taking off Rodrigues, Jones and Milner, and sending on Andros Townsend, Chris Smalling and Jermaine Defoe, but to no avail as Chile continued to do what they had done all game.  They were quicker in the tackle, better at closing down, looked fresher and generally seemed to want the win more. 

Ross Barclay came on for Lallana and he almost broke through with one strong burst, but goal chances by now were at a premium as Chile settled for 1-0 and England had no real answer to them.  There were a number of bookings as frustration set in, and it was irritating to see the number of times the South Americans crashed to the ground, clutching their faces after they had been hit on the legs!  But that is the Latin American way, and England will have to learn to deal with it and not make it easy for these teams.

Three minutes into injury time Chile clinched the match and scored again.  Cahill gave the ball away and England were totally exposed as the break came.  The ball was threaded wide to Sanchez and he had the easy task of clipping the ball over the advancing goalkeeper. en that was made easier because the goalkeeper went down too early.  Forster is a big lad, and he should have stood tall and made it hard for him, but to be fair Sanchez would probably still have scored from such an easy chance.

So, a very poor performance from England, on a night when the quality of the opposition taught them a lesson or two, food for thought as the team moves forward to the next challenges that lie ahead.

Never mind, easy game next week, bring on the Germans!
   

Source Notes