Five things we learned from the Three Lions’ 2-0 victory in Basel.
England faced a tough challenge from their trip to St. Jakob Park in Basel to face a well-drilled Switzerland side yesterday evening, but it was a test that Roy Hodgson and his side came through with flying colours as the hosts were dispatched to give England a 2-0 victory.
New £16 million Arsenal signing Danny Welbeck scored both of the goals for Hodgson, converting fine assists from Liverpool duo Raheem Sterling and Rickie Lambert, whilst the Three Lions’ defence also stood up well to the tests posed by the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri and Haris Seferovic.
Here are five things that we took from the night’s action:
Danny Welbeck could be a real bargain for Arsenal
It was far from a flawless performance by Danny Welbeck, playing upfront alongside captain Wayne Rooney – with an inability to find Raheem Sterling with a simple square pass to give England a first half lead being a notable blemish. Overall, though, Welbeck led the line with maturity in his hold-up play and excitement when running in behind – at £16m, he could prove to be a fantastic capture for Arsene Wenger if he is used through the centre.
Switzerland lack centre backs
If the FIFA world rankings are taken as gospel then Switzerland are a top class national team and, on paper, they do have some wonderful players – midfielder Granit Xhaka, playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri and full backs Stephane Lichtsteiner and Ricardo Rodriguez all being examples of this. Where the Swiss are weak, however, is in the centre of defence, with the lack of pace and mobility of Johann Djourou and Steve von Bergen ruthlessly exposed by Raheem Sterling and Danny Welbeck.
England could qualify from this group with their eyes closed
The opening up of Euro 2016 to an extra eight participants, coupled with an England victory in easily their most difficult fixture of the qualification campaign, means that the Three Lions could now sleepwalk their way to qualification very comfortably. This may not be an ideal situation for Hodgson, who will be keen for his side to be tested in friendlies, but is the clear consequence of such an easy group. Things were made even better by the fact that Slovenia, likely to be the only side capable of challenging England and Switzerland for the top two positions, suffered a shock defeat in Estonia.
Their future under Hodgson is as a counter attacking side
There tends to be a lot of talk in the media of how England are unable to match up with the big sides as a force both in possession and when attacking – but the future of this Three Lions side seems to be as a counter attacking side in the mould of those which flourished at the World Cup. It was the pace of Raheem Sterling and Danny Welbeck that made the difference, with the home side simply blitzed on the counter when they pushed up the field.
There is a place up for grabs in defensive midfield
If Roy Hodgson is going to stick with the diamond formation then there is a potential vacancy at the base, with Jack Wilshere’s audition as the player screening the defence and building attacks not having been a particularly successful one. The problem for Hodgson is that, apart from making what would be a backwards move in either Gareth Barry or James Milner, there are no clear alternatives – unless a youngster such as Nathaniel Chalobah or Jordan Rossiter enjoys a breakthrough campaign.