England vs Spain a few quick thoughts
Dan Tracey
November 16, 2016
1,807 Views
- The audition for Gareth Southgate comes to an end and although last night’s encounter against Spain was not a deal breaker it would have certainly ended in disappointing circumstances
- With England seemingly cruising to victory over the 2010 World Cup winners it would have been an impressive end to Southgate’s interim tenure had England seen out the game
- But a collapse at the end of the game which saw Spain claw back England’s 2-0 lead would have ended the game and Southgate’s stint at boss on a very sour note
- Somehow England snatched a draw from the jaws of victory
- And you have to ask yourself how this happened. At 2-0 up there were home and hosed
- This wasn’t a vintage Spanish side and with a raft of key names out due to injury England would have rightly felt that they were there for taking
- And with England only needing 9 minutes to go in front they could not have asked for a better start
- Adam Lallana’s inch perfect pass split the Spanish defence and Jamie Vardy was through on goal, with the Leicester forward having to adjust his feet the next thing he knew he was being bundled down by Napoli’s Pepe Reina
- An obvious penalty as you will ever see, Reina was perhaps lucky to not be carded but there was no luck involve in Lallana’s well placed spot kick to put England ahead
- That would be pretty much that all Lallana would offer as he was injured midway through the first half, Liverpool fans will now be impatiently waiting on an injury news and whether or not the former Southampton man will have a prolonged absence from first team action
- Spain rarely threatened in the first half in a game that was played more like a Premier League clash than it was an international friendly. The game saw 6 bookings with three cards on either side, Spain were more living up to their nickname of La Furia Roja but England were also being no pushovers
- The flashpoint of the game was undoubtedly when Eric Dier copped an elbow from Ander Herrera. Dier was less than impressed and you get the feeling that there will be a score to settle when these two meet at Old Trafford next month
- Raheem Sterling and Jesse Lingard looked promising in the wide positions while Jamie Vardy showed glimpses of last season’s title winning form for Leicester
- And it was Vardy who doubled England’s lead soon after half time. His diving header from Jordan Henderson’s cross put England very much in the box seat with still 42 minutes to play
- Like any international friendly the second half always sees many changes which will disrupt the flow and rhythm of the game and last night was no different.
- Substitutions at this stage are always with a key to blooding new faces and Aaron Cresswell made his England debut while Tom Heaton earned his second cap after replacing Joe Hart at half time
- But it would be a debutant for Spain who would play arguably the biggest impact
- Iago Aspas – yes THAT Iago Aspas of ex Liverpool fame came on at half time to replace David Silva and it would be he who got Spain on the scoresheet
- A fantastic curling effort in the 90th minute probably made Liverpool fans wonder if it was the same player who graced Anfield but even the most confident of Spanish fans would have believed the goal was mere consolation
- But England now looked nervy and with 5 minutes of injury time left there was plenty of time for Spain to level
- And with the very last kick of the game Isco was on hand to slot the ball through the legs of Tom Heaton to give the visitors an unlikely draw
- Had England not made so many changes then perhaps they wouldn’t have thrown away a 2 goal lead but that’s no real excuse for failing to see out the game
- Out of the four games that Southgate has taken charge of this was arguably England’s best performance but the manner in which the game ended will definitely be a blot on the former Middlesbrough managers copybook
- They looked sharper without captain Wayne Rooney in the side, does this point to a future without the national sides top scorer
- That will be a decision for whoever the new manager is by the time they resume international duty in March
- I think it’s no great secret that the signs now point to the current incumbent getting the position on a permanent basis.
- The signs have been solid but not spectacular and last night would have taught Gareth Southgate a very harsh lesson about the world of international football
- But if the decision is as expected to give him the job full time then as a nation the best thing we can do is get behind him and back the side as best we can. He may get the job by default but doesn’t make him any less capable, best of luck Gareth
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