England began their world cup qualifying campaign on a rather tedious note on Sunday with the side failing to fully utilise Martin Skrtel’s sending off from the game. Despite dominating proceedings for most parts of the evening, the Sam Allardyce led side failed to intimidate the Slovakian defence and were saved from yet another embarrassment by Adam Lallana as his shot found its way to the back of the net through the legs of Slovakian goalkeeper.
With a clean yet tedious start to the qualifying campaign, new manager Allardyce will be hoping that he can usher in an era where the side can eke out crucial results.
#1 Three Lions fail to impress once again
Playing their first competitive game after the disastrous elimination from Euro 2016 at the hands of Iceland, the English national team failed to impress in their opening world cup qualifier against Slovakia. Despite having the larger share of possession, England did not look intimidating enough and failed to create a clear goal scoring opportunity until the 75th minute.
The side has been plagued by its inability to find the back of the net and that was exposed yet again on the evening as they failed to score against a 10 men Slovakian team and barely managed to gain the 3 points, courtesy of a really late goal from Adam Lallana.
Sam Allardyce, the new manager of the national team has built a reputation for obtaining pragmatic results in tough games, rather than going for the extravagant and failing miserably and that was evident in the match, where they did not commit too many men forward, despite being the better team for most parts of the evening.
Given that they dictated the pace of the game and were largely in control of the game, the English national team should have put a few more goals past Slovakia and Allardyce and his backroom staff will need to find a way to convert dominance into goals in the rest of the qualifying games to come.
#2 Slovakia have their task cut out in the campaign
The side that is placed 24th in the recent FIFA rankings, compared to England’s 13th position, seemed more than happy to take a point against a star-studded team and were almost successful in their endeavours, only for their plans to be disrupted by Adam Lallana.
Managed by Ján Kozák, the side has its task cut out in the qualifying campaign in a group that also includes the likes of Scotland and Slovenia and will need to improve on their showing against England.
The lack of quality in the attacking department was evident for everyone to see during the game and it might cost the team qualification to the upcoming World Cup finals. They hardly created any goal scoring opportunity and were outplayed in all departments in the game against an underwhelming English unit.
While the side does have defensive discipline, it might not prove to be enough for the side to progress to the tournament in Russia.
#3 England lack a creator in chief
One man who has come under the scanner over the course of the last few days is Wayne Rooney, as a number of former players and critics believe it's time for the all-time English goal scoring record holder to retire from the game.
He started the game as the side’s attacking midfielder and we were not provided with any evidence of why he should remain the side’s creator in chief. He was largely restricted to picking the ball from deep and making square passes to his teammates and did not add to the creativity of his side.
The fact of the matter is that England genuinely lack a creator in chief who can pull the right strings to ensure that his side can create a clear cut goal scoring opportunity, especially against the dogged units such as Slovakia, and Rooney is another player who might have come up short in his endeavours to become the creative lynchpin of his side.
#4 Jurgen Klopp was right to ship Martin Skrtel
Jurgen Klopp’s decision to sell Martin Skrtel in the recently concluded transfer window might not have gone too well with the segment of club’s fans who believed he was not right in shipping off a player who had served the club even in their worst times.
However, if his performance in the game was any indication, he is a defensive liability, especially with his tendency to commit fouls in critical areas on the pitch and putting his team at the danger of conceding a goal.
The Slovakian captain was sent off in the game for a second yellow card following a stamp on Harry Kane and put his side under immense defensive pressure and would need to tidy up his game for the good of his team.
Touted to be the leader of the side, despite the presence of stalwarts like Marek Hamsik, Skrtel needs to lead by example in the rest of the games to come.
#5 The English Wings soared high during the game
Raheem Sterling and Adam Lallana were arguably England’s best players during their time on the pitch. While Sterling caused a lot of trouble for the Slovakia defence with his pace and movement, Lallana tested Kozacik on a number of occasions and it was his late winner that earned the Three Lions the all-important three points.
With the mentioned players linking up well with the other attackers, England gathered some attacking momentum and tested the Slovakian defence’s resolve on a number of occasions. Both the players look rejuvenated after impressive performances for their clubs in the first few matches of the season and continued their good form into the game against Slovakia.
With Sterling regaining his confidence and Lallana finally living up to the extravagant fee Liverpool paid for him, Sam Allardyce will be keen to utilise their services to ensure smooth progression into the World Cup finals.
