Image: Michael O'Neill comforts Callum Marshall after his dramatic equaliser was ruled out after a lengthy VAR review Lewis Jones Northern Ireland lacking experience, but not fight Wales will know they have to offer up a response when they travel to Turkey on Monday - a game they now will need to win to keep serious qualification hopes alive. Joe Rodon's lack of desire to sprint back to erase his error for Armenia's second goal laid that bare. This was a case of underestimating the opposition, no doubt. They showed a distinct lack of quality and were punished by some wonderful attacking play from Lucas Zelarayan and the exciting 19-year-old Grant-Leon Ranos, who has just joined Borussia Monchengladbach from Bayern Munich. But they drifted for too long under a lack of leadership on the field. At 2-1 down to Armenia at the break, this game was still winnable for Robert Page's side against a team ranked 97 in the world.īale usually dug them out of such situations. It was a futile thought of course, but it nonetheless showcased just how little strength Wales have in depth. If only Wales had Gareth Bale to call upon. Image: Wales' Ethan Ampadu and Aaron Ramsey appear dejected after Armenia went 2-1 up Ron Walker Southgate faces toughest England selection ever The infamous 3-4-3 was finally ditched before the World Cup, and slowly Southgate's defensive reputation will follow if he keeps setting England up with this kind of intent. Southgate has gone from worrying about Trent's defensive ability to giving him the No 10 shirt, and playing him there for a period in the second half. If it wasn't Alexander-Arnold free midfield role - similar to the one first coined by one of football's most attack-minded managers, let's not forget - it was Luke Shaw's invitation to play as a second left-winger, with Maddison drifting inside to offer more problems between the lines. Southgate's plan to end that run was to hand out more licences to attack than he's had printed in almost six years in the job. The island minnows are miles from England's level but it's been two years since they last conceded more than twice in a single game. Get Sky Sports | Download the Sky Sports App.Euro 2024 Qualifying fixtures | Results | Tables.England were anything but defensive despite the history against them in their opening qualifying win over Italy, and saved perhaps their most sophisticated attacking game plan for a stoic Malta on Friday night. The early signs are that there is no going back from here. We all hoped we had seen the back of the defence-first philosophy when England matched France man-for-man in the World Cup quarter-finals in December, even if they narrowly came up short.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |