itsbeautifuloutside

England v Italy

Arena Amazonia, Manaus, 14th June 2014

The Match

The evening started with the surprise news that Sterling would be starting ahead of Lallana, which more than anything showed up Hodgson’s intentions. Rather than rely on Lallana’s ball retention skills, he went for the pace of Sterling and a reliance on the understanding in attack between Gerrard, Sturridge and Sterling.

It indicated that Hodgson was going to go at Italy, in search of the early advantage, and indeed two early sights of goal drew long-range attempts from Sterling and Henderson, but the match soon settled into the expected pattern of patient Italian possession and build-up play, with England content to use the pace of Sturridge and Sterling on the break.

Pirlo played a free role, emerging wherever he was required in the middle of the field and leaving Verratti to play at the base. As their B team did against Fluminense in the build up, Italy did look vulnerable at times when passing the ball in their own half, but England were more content to get men behind the ball rather than use up valuable energy by pressing the opposition into mistakes.

PIrlo was always available to receive the ball, though his cute passes were not penetrative in the early stages. Instead, the threat came from Italy’s right side of Darmian and Candreva, who were afforded the freedom of Manaus by Baines and Hodgson’s selection of Rooney on the left hand side. It was this threat that Hodgson was never able to deal with and it cost England the game.

Italy upped the intensity and ironically it was a moment when Pirlo did not touch the ball that created the chance for Marchisio to open the scoring. Pirlo’s step-over created space and Marchisio’s rifled shot arrowed through a crowded box and nestled in the corner. Italy were in the lead and totally in control of the tempo of the game.

But then, a brilliant counter from Sterling to Rooney and then to Sturridge had England back on terms. Each goal reflected perfectly how each team were playing the game; Italy’s inventive build-up versus England’s swift breaks, which had on occasion been incisive. These were two teams, with contrasting styles but each with a game plan, sizing each other up and attacking each other in a controlled manner.

Gaining confidence from the goal and sensing an opening, England pressed again but it was Italy that came back stronger, with a Balotelli chip cleared off the line and then a shot tipped onto the post by Hart. And finally, the referee blew the whistle to bring to a close a fascinating 45 minutes of World Cup football, and just in time for Hodgson to patch up his team’s left hand side which needed urgent attention. When the teams lined up for the second half, Wellbeck was given the job of assisting Baines in nullifying Darmian and Candreva. It didn’t work.

Italy switched the ball from left to right, the dawdling Wellbeck failed to spot the danger and allowed Darmian to maraud into space. Baines was exposed and Candreva delivered an excellent cross to the far post for Balotelli to nod home. It was a basic error from Wellbeck, and one that Hodgson cannot have failed to warn him of during the break. It was a moment of total indiscipline and lack of concentration from a player who is unfamiliar with playing that role. The manager had now tried two of his old favourites in that position and both looked out of their depth.

Now that Italy had their lead back they retreated a little, allowing England to gain more control of the ball, if not the match. Rooney went close with a long range shot and Gerrard had a rejected claim for a penalty as he was barged over in the box. Sensing the danger, Cesare Prandelli took Verratti off and moved Pirlo back to a more defensive position to deal with Rooney in the no10 role. Hodgson responded by removing Wellbeck in favour of Ross Barkley, who was preferred off the bench to Adam Lallana.

With Rooney relieved of his defensive duties, he stole the ball from the toe of Barkley, who was looking to find Sterling in a promising position on the right. Rooney wasted the opportunity. It was a moment that highlighted the fact that England’s incisiveness had been negatively affected by Hodgson’s need to get Rooney into the game. Sterling, England’s best player in his central role during the first half, was now isolated on the right wing, hugging the touchline and playing as a winger. Rooney in the central role was wasteful once again when he found space in the box. With the whole goal to aim at, the ball on his favoured right foot and the goalkeeper committed, he dragged his shot wide and England’s chances of winning the game were gone.

Unforced errors began to appear in England’s game while Italy were content to sit back and play on the break. Hodgson’s final throw of the dice was to remove Sturridge and replace him with Lallana, playing with no striker and Rooney in a false no9 position. England’s plethora of attacking midfielders swarmed forward but Italy’s defence remained comfortable. As the clock ran down, England’s attacks were plentiful but toothless without a fulcrum around which the attacks could be based.

The last ten minutes were crying out for the introduction of Rickie Lambert, someone who understands intrinsically how Hodgson was trying to play. But Hodgson had used up his substitutes through tactical replacements of his original selections. It was widely expected that the naivety of England’s young players would be England’s downfall, but instead it was the naivety of the manager; if Hodgson had not earlier been forced to replace the inadequate Wellbeck, he would have had a strategic switch up his sleeve to change the game in the last ten minutes.

Instead, Italy ran down the clock and England were left to contemplate good performances from the young lions such as Sterling and Sturridge. Barkley also looked capable of unlocking Italy’s defence. If England are to progress, Hodgson must stop trying to fit the square pegs of Rooney and Wellbeck into round holes. Against Uruguay, he will be presented with the opportunity to take advantage of space between the lines, and his selection must include players capable of using that space. It is the perfect opportunity to use Rickie Lambert in a withdrawn role, allowing him to dictate England’s attacking game to bring Sterling, Lallana and Sturridge into play around him.

But, whether for Lambert or one of England’s promising young attacking stars, is the manager brave enough to drop Rooney? He will need to be if England are to get the win needed to progress, for this England team showed against Italy that they are being held back by Wayne Rooney.

Batts

15.06.14