When England beat Iran in such emphatic fashion in their opening game, it was always going to be difficult to stomach what we saw when we played the USA in our second group match. To be honest, this was typical England, going from the sublime to the ridiculous. However, a clean sheet and four points, certainly puts us in the box seat before our last match, against Wales next week, a match where you can guarantee that you will see a very different Wales performance, because no-one likes to beat England more than the three other UK teams.

Before I go on, I must say that I was impressed with the Americans. They harried, hustled and nibbled at the England ankles all the way through the game, not letting up for a minute. England, meanwhile, struggled to get to grips in the midfield, with Declan Rice doing his job, but the two stars of the Iran display, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka, could not get into this match with the same influence. England were too often second to the ball, and when we did have possession, there was little creativity shown in the forward passing.

It took ten minutes for a worthwhile chance to present itself, with England producing one of their better moves of the night down the right, Saka and Bellingham set up Harry Kane but Walker Zimmerman spread himself to deflect Kane's effort for a corner. From the kick, the ball eventually found Luke Shaw, who shot wildly over the bar. Those two incidents did give some encouragement, but as the game wore on the Americans pressing and closing down proved a real thorn to an England side which struggled to cope. Indeed, on 26 minutes the USA missed a fine chance to take the lead themselves. A cross came in from the right, England failed to clear and Weston McKennie had a clear sight of goal, but again the ball flew over the bar.

Three minutes later Yunus Musah fired in a shot that Jordan Pickford easily saved, but what was more alarming was the way in which the Americans kept taking the ball off the England players with consummate ease. Mason Mount was a prime example as he drove into the box only for the ball to be taken from him so casually. The USA then put in a move down the left on 33 minutes and so nearly broke the deadlock. The ball found Christian Pulisic and his shot rattled the crossbar before being cleared. From one England attack that was ended by a poor Mount cross, the American goalkeeper, Matt Turner, hit a long clearance and only a timely interception by John Stones cleared the danger. To be fair, Stones and Harry Maguire were both playing well but too often, when they had possession, the lack of movement in front of them gave them few options for a decent forward pass.

My notes after 40 minutes said, "England poor, USA, not bad", which sort of summed it up at that point. Funnily enough, in those last few minutes of the half Pulisic headed wide for the States, then Shaw got behind the defence to pull back for Saka to skew a shot over. And then, seconds from the end, Mount saw the goal open up before him. He fired in a decent shot, but the keeper was equal to it with a good save to tip the ball around a post. 0-0 at the break, but with England not firing on many cylinders, they had a lot to do after the restart. Rice was working hard, and doing his job well, but Bellingham, Mount and Saka just couldn't get past the tough tackling and organised Americans.​

The hustling of England by the relentless American pressure, kept England at bay, as every time England had possession, the ankles were being tapped, and no room was given to their players. It was certainly credit to the American fitness, but England had little creativity. On 58 minutes Maguire made a fine headed clearance from one of the mounting corner kick total of the US. With around 20 minutes to go, Gareth Southgate made some changes, bringing on Jack Grealish for the ineffective Raheem Sterling, and Jordan Henderson for Bellingham, who had been rather out thought this particular night.

At this point the game was rather scrappy with neither side wanting to lose and England not having the impetus to force a goal. One goal probably would have been enough and Southgate brought on Marcus Rashford for the disappointing Saka. A good cross from the right was cut out by the goalkeeper, who had shown excellent handling all through the match. More substitutions for the Americans, but little by way of goal action to report in the closing minutes. Rashford had a shot but Turner was equal to it for an easy save. With two of the added four minutes left, Kane had a clear chance to break the deadlock. Grealish was fouled, and from Shaw's free-kick, Kane put a header wide. It was a good chance but the England skipper could not quite send his header in the right direction.

So, the game ended goalless, and a point each was probably the fair result. The defence played well on the night, with Pickford doing nothing wrong, apart from moaning at everyone! Maguire and Stones gave nothing away and the two full-backs worked hard up and down the flanks. Elsewhere though, England were weak in both midfield and up front. Kane worked his socks off as always, but Sterling, Saka, Bellingham and Mount just couldn't deal with the continual harrying of the talented American side.

Let's hope the team play much better in their last game against a familiar foe. Certainly it is all to play for.
  

Source Notes