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#2 The USA’s defending was diabolical
It came as a surprise to many when the USA failed to qualify for the summer’s World Cup in Russia – particularly when Panama, who qualified ahead of them, ended up putting in such a terrible showing in the tournament.
After tonight’s game however, many England fans will probably be able to understand a lot more exactly why the Americans didn’t make it. Simply put, they were diabolical, particularly at the back.
The USA displayed naive, sloppy defending from the off in tonight’s game – an early incident saw Brad Guzan completely botch a clearance, almost allowing Callum Wilson to open his international account with frightening ease.
It was poor defending which allowed Dele Alli to steal the ball back to set up Jesse Lingard for his goal, and while Trent Alexander-Arnold’s goal was brilliantly taken, there’s no way he should’ve been allowed to make his run untracked.
As already mentioned, England’s pace dropped in the second half, but even then, the USA were largely unable to create any real chances – Christian Pulisic was probably the lone impressive player in their side. And finally, Callum Wilson’s goal was largely caused by John Brooks allowing the striker to get across him.
The last time the USA played England – in the group stages of the 2010 World Cup – despite England having all of the big names, the Americans largely matched them man-for-man. Tonight they were wildly outclassed, and it looks like it’ll take a while for the US to catch up to England, and to any other top-level international side.
