Some ski resorts, three towns and a bit of duty-free shopping. Your boys took a hell of a beating. On to Belgrade. The lions have roared.
OK, so we exaggerate — a laborious 2-0 win against the team ranked 174th in the world would ordinarily be a concern, but for England it actually felt a relief. It’s something to build on, and after their disaster in the June internationals Thomas Tuchel and his aspiring World Cup winners badly needed that.
This wasn’t a bad performance, but it wasn’t a good one either — just an earnest, unspectacular exercise in putting a small but incredibly resilient opponent away.
The almost empty stadium when England did their lap of honour round Villa Park told one story, but the absence of booing or paper aeroplanes (for the first time in Tuchel’s reign) told another. The fans were on the fence and real judgment will come when the Three Lions play their toughest game of qualifying, away to Serbia on Tuesday.
A step-up in performance will be required there, and Tuchel seemed to be contemplating just that while he sat pensively on a water bottle trunk throughout most of the second half.
He had promised we’d see more hallmarks of the football he wants to stamp upon England and we did, in the form of quicker passing, better pressing, penetration from wide. But only sporadically. At other times, England’s energy and confidence dropped and they were dangerously becalmed.
The winners and losers? Well, maybe Tuchel has found a No6. On debut Elliot Anderson was outstanding in how crisply he moved the ball and how tenaciously he won it back, though caution is required. He was playing against semi-pros and will need to show he can reprise those qualities against much superior opposition, but this was a fine start to his international career.
“Just a very, very good football player. He has physicality, loves passing, very mobile. It was a pleasure to see,” Tuchel said.
England’s bright attacking play had faded somewhat before Rice’s header
MATTHEW CHILDS/REUTERS
Noni Madueke was excellent (even if Tuchel criticised some of his counterpressing), jinking and jagging past opponents and playing with a courage of which England need more.
Marc Guéhi had little to do defensively but was smooth on the ball and played the pass of the game to instigate England’s opening goal. However, Harry Kane made his 108th international appearance one of his worst and, at No10, Eberechi Eze missed chances and, Tuchel said, didn’t bring the same creativity he had showed in training sessions to the real thing.
Tuchel expects Serbia to be both different and the same. More muscular and direct and with far more quality in the front line but similarly inclined to let England have the ball. England’s two goals showed what to do against teams settled in their block: move the ball cleverly to make them lose a little of that shape then penetrate from the flanks. The crosses from Madueke, to force a 25th-minute Andorran own goal, and from Reece James, for Declan Rice to head home in the 67th minute, were brilliant.
But there were not enough sequences of true quality like these — and there is something wrong in the balance of a performance when your striker (Kane) ends with 12 touches and your centre backs (Guéhi and Dan Burn) a combined 263.
England’s dominant first half was rewarded when García headed into his own net to put the hosts in front
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER BRADLEY ORMESHER
In fairness to Eze and Kane, England didn’t get the ball to them enough. It’s true that a stampede of bulls coming towards them wouldn’t shift Andorra from their 5-4-1 and Eze was in the area most congested with yellow shirts. It’s also true that there was a calculating element to how Andorra kept leaving Burn in possession. He did OK on the ball, though — and his fellow Geordie, Anderson, made a difference.
Anderson’s smart passing forced a mini-opening for Kane on the edge of Andorra’s box early on, but Kane’s shot rolled tamely into Iker Álvarez’s gloves. When Eze was finally in a good situation, it was after a swift interchange involving Anderson and Madueke, but Marc Valés jutted out a foot to get a nick on the ball and take power off the shot, giving Álvarez a routine save.
Eze lacked conviction with his shot when Rice pounced on the loose ball after an Álvarez parry to cut back to him. Max Llovera blocked and James’s cross just evaded Madueke and Kane.
But then it came, an outbreak of clever, patterned and telling football Tuchel was brought in to author. Marcus Rashford switched play inside to Anderson, who helped the ball on to James, who then passed back to Guéhi.
Guéhi’s ball to Eze was exactly what England needed: something bolder and more precise than what came before. It was lovely, a straight pass fizzed down the centre, through the marking, to Eze, who played back to Anderson. He found Madueke, who bent in a cross and Christian García, worried about Kane, threw his head at the ball — diverting it into his own net.
That should have been England’s platform but, as Tuchel said, the 15 minutes that ensued were his team’s most careless. Not enough players took Guéhi’s lead: there was a lack of bravery in the passing.
England allowed the game to drift until right before half-time, when Álvarez palmed out a Madueke cross and García cleared just before Eze could convert. Tuchel betrayed his growing angst by smacking his palm in frustration.
He sent England out with more intent and the 25 minutes at the start of the second half was their best period of the game. However, the finishing remained meek. Madueke jagged past his man after a fine switch by Myles Lewis-Skelly and cut back to Eze, but the midfielder was slow with his shot and Álvarez saved. Rashford curled the follow-up wide.
Anderson snapped in to win possession as Andorra played out and all Kane needed to do was play him a simple square pass but Kane played the ball behind him and Anderson couldn’t quite adjust. Álvarez — the Andorra manager’s son — made a very good save. Then, Eze leant back horribly to yank a Rashford centre into the stand.
Anderson impressed in midfield on his full debut
CARL RECINE/GETTY IMAGES
Andorra even had a shot — hit high over the bar by Ian Olivera, who simply wears “Ian” on his shirt. You would rather like him to line up with the Brazilian, “Kevin” who has just signed for Fulham.
How relieved Rice looked to give England a second goal. It came when Burn fed Guéhi, who spread to James, and the right back bent one of his caviar deliveries to the far post, where Rice, arriving with a good run, nodded down past Álvarez. As Tuchel said, England should have won by three or four.
A step in the right direction, was his conclusion and in the context of what came before, it was.
England (4-2-3-1): J Pickford — R James (M Rogers 68min), M Guéhi (E Konsa 76), D Burn, M Lewis-Skelly — E Anderson, D Rice (T Livramento 68) — N Madueke, E Eze (M Gibbs-White 78), M Rashford (A Gordon 68) — H Kane. Booked Burn.
Andorra (5-4-1): I Álvarez — B Borrà, M Llovera, C García, I Olivera, S Nicolás — A Rodrigo (Dacu 81), P Babot (M Rebés 91), M Valés (J Guillén 59), J Cervós (C Rubio 91) — Cucu (G López 59). Booked Babot.
Referee M Al Emara. Attendance 39,202.