The Warm-Up: Maybe England really are good at football now
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Published 16/10/2018 at 07:26 GMT
The summer wasn't just a collective fever dream, people. Who knew? Meanwhile everything is absolutely fine at Aston Villa.
Harry Kane and Jordan Pickford England celebrate victory after the UEFA Nations League A Group Four match between Spain and England at Estadio Benito Villamarin on October 15, 2018 in Seville, Spain.
Image credit: Getty Images
TUESDAY’S BIG STORIES
England are good at football!
There was a slight sense after, and even during the World Cup, that England’s progress to the semi-finals in Russia was something of a freak, a result of a favourable draw that would come to be regarded as a one-off rather than a tournament indicative of future performance. What they needed was a convincing win against a genuine superpower to convince us that the summer wasn’t in fact a one-off.
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England did enough to win despite coming under pressure in the second half
Image credit: PA Sport
Like giving Spain an absolute hiding, for example. Of course there are caveats, and if you search the more miserable parts of social media then there will be plenty saying England weren’t actually that good – but in the first-half at least, they really, really were. 3-2 was the final score, 3-0 at the break as Raheem Sterling broke a three-year dry spell to score a narrative-busting brace, while Marcus Rashford got the other.
Gareth Southgate was without Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Kyle Walker and Danny Rose, named England’s youngest starting XI in 60 years, half the back four was from Leicester and they made fools of Spain, a side who in their previous Nations League game beat World Cup finalists Croatia 6-0, featured four Champions League winners and probably the best goalkeeper in the world. Sterling’s first goal in particular was a joy, a perfect first touch followed by the most emphatic finish, ending a fine team move.
"The World Cup was a brilliant experience for us but we had to show signs we could step forward," Southgate said afterwards. "With a win against Spain and a draw against Croatia, we have shown we’ve made progress. It’s a big step. We had a lot of young players out there, and for a team to play the way we did was a great reference point for the future. It’s important these youngsters enjoy playing for England and feel the way we want to play, and they should be able to progress from this."
Northern Ireland…not so much
It’s not all good news for the ‘home’ countries though, as Northern Ireland are staring down the barrel of Nations League relegation (which could mean, among other things, a tougher draw in the European Championship qualifiers) after they were beaten 2-0 by Bosnia Herzegovina. Edin Dzeko bagged both for the Bosnians, meaning the fate of the Irish is now out of their hands, and relegation to League C looks a certainty.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina's forward Edin Dzeko (R) and his teammates celebrate after scoring against Northern Ireland's national team, during the UEFA Nations League football match between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Northern Ireland at Grbavica stadium.
Image credit: Eurosport
"We expected a very hard match," said Bosnia coach Robert Prosinecki, rather generously. "We were facing Northern Ireland, who are a brilliant team and they have shown this quality this evening. They can play with anyone at any level. They had a lot of opportunities and we have seen the post being hit several times."
Elsewhere, Iceland dropped into League B after losing 2-1 to Switzerland, Estonia and Hungary drew 3-3 while Luxembourg won a game! Granted, it was against San Marino, but still.
Terry and Dean…sorry, Dean and Terry map out the future for Villa
It’s one of those managerial duos that looks rather good and rather romantic on paper, but when you think about the practicalities of it, it’s easy to see disaster of some description. Dean Smith, the lauded Championship manager and boyhood Aston Villa fan, and John Terry, the player with the illustrious career starting out life in coaching. What could go wrong?
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Aston Villa manager Dean Smith with coaches Richard O’Kelly and John Terry at Villa Park
Image credit: PA Sport
Well, the idea that Terry was foisted upon Smith, a man who already has an assistant in Richard O’Kelly (also coming to Villa) is one red flag, but Smith insisted that wasn’t the case. "When I discussed the role there was an opportunity," Smith said. "I was told there was an opportunity to take John and I said if I speak to John I think we can both come up with good enough, honest answers to see if we both want to move on with it or not. I felt it was a win-win for both of us. It was my decision to bring John in."
So definitely not a case of 'you can have your dream job but only if you bring this guy in' then? We’re absolutely positive about that, are we? 100% sure? Definitely? Certainly?
OK.
HEROES AND ZEROS
Hero: Raheem Sterling
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Sterling gol en España Inglaterra
Image credit: Eurosport
No goals for three years in an England shirt, then when he’s played in something approaching his position at club level he gets two, you say? Hmmmmmmmmmm. Raheem Sterling is a treasure and we should all treat him as such. The Warm-Up, for one, has been watching the first touch for his first goal on repeat for the last nine hours. What a treat.
Zero: Nearly Jordan Pickford
Jordan, quick word. Excellent goalkeeper, well done on that. And brilliant distribution in the first-half too. Great stuff. Just…if you could knock the ‘doing a Cruyff turn in your own box then being exceedingly lucky not to give away a penalty’ stuff on the head, it would be much better for everyone’s constitutions. Cheers!
HAT TIP
Yashir Pinto looks tired, and it’s difficult to blame him. He has just played an international friendly in Kyrgyzstan, but it is the jetlag rather than the football that is afflicting him. It took him 32 hours to reach Bishkek from his home in Coquimbo in Chile, a route that took in Santiago, Madrid and Istanbul. But when Palestine come calling, he doesn’t think twice… And it was from a completely unexpected source – networking site LinkedIn, used in the UK mainly by professionals such as lawyers and accountants – that Pinto became a full international.
On the BBC, Mark Lomas tells the tale of the international footballer found like a trainee recruitment consultant, on LinkedIn.
RETRO CORNER
On this day in 1968, European Champions Manchester United’s attempts to win the Intercontinental Cup didn’t go brilliantly, losing the second leg of the final to Estudiantes. Juan Ramon Veron – father of Juan Sebastian – scored for the Argentineans, George Best got himself sent off and despite the game ending 1-1, Estudiantes won 2-1 on aggregate.
COMING UP
More lovely, juicy, compelling Nations League for you tonight, and two games stand out: it’s champs France vs the beleaguered Germany, one side still riding high and the other scrabbling around in the dirt, while a little lower down the quality ladder but still up there in terms of narrative, it’s Wales v Ireland, the former without Gareth Bale or Aaron Ramsey. Which isn’t ideal for them, to say the least.
Tomorrow’s Warm-Up will be brought to you by the lovely, juicy, compelling Alex Chick.
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