By Simon Wright – Follow
me on Twitter @Siwri88
England took
a giant step towards the World Cup finals next summer as they defeated
Montenegro on Friday at Wembley Stadium 4-1.
It means Roy
Hodgson’s side have destiny in their own hands. A victory over Poland at the
home of English football on Tuesday will secure their place at the party in
Brazil next summer.
It was a
convincing second half performance after a cagey opening in the Group H game,
livened up by a special debut performance from Andros Townsend in a Three Lions
shirt. Townsend set-up the first goal for Wayne Rooney and capped off a fine debut
with a brilliant third.
However,
English fans (Wembley Stadium full pictured) need to accept that expectations have to remain low going into
2014. The side has little hope of launching a strong challenge to win the World
Cup next summer. Being there and being competitive is the main objective for
everyone so anything better than the 2010 disaster in South Africa has to be
seen as progress.
There is a
lack of quality in English talent at the moment. Whilst Hodgson’s strongest
starting 11 is fairly decent, there is depth concerns in many areas of the
field. Goalkeeping options look mediocre below an off-colour Joe Hart and
although Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka have formed a dependable partnership at
the heart of the backline, cover looks exceedingly short if either/both collect
an injury for their club teams.
There is also
a struggle to fill the wide positions in midfield. Townsend could fill the void
on one of the flanks but with Ashley Young in the worst form of his career
meaning he was overlooked for these two vital qualifiers and Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain injured, it is difficult to see who can be seen as a reputable
back-up. Both Raheem Sterling and Wilfried Zaha offer promise but need to leave
Liverpool and Manchester United respectively on temporary deals to get
first-team football. If they don’t, the manager can’t really take them to the
World Cup as they will be lacking match sharpness.
Tuesday’s
match is not one that should be seen as a walkover. Poland have underachieved
in this qualifying campaign and defeat in Kharkiv on Friday night to England’s
group rivals Ukraine ended their mathematical hopes of grabbing a play-off
spot. However they have caused problems for England before and eliminated Sir
Alf Ramsey’s side in a similar scenario in 1973 with a draw denying the English
a spot at the 1974 World Cup finals in West Germany.
The Poles
also have Robert Lewandowski – widely considered as one of the best natural
finishers in the game. Lewandowski is currently involved in a bitter dispute
with his club Borussia Dortmund over his future as he craves a move to their
big Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich. When he gets onto the field though, he
always produces for club and country and he will definitely give Cahill and
Jagielka some headaches with the threat he poses on Tuesday.
England have
everything to lose in this scenario. There is a whole catalogue of nightmares
to look back on. 1973 against Poland, 1993 in Holland and 2007 at home to
Croatia spring to mind. Hopefully there will be a positive outcome for the home
supporters in midweek.
Realistically
though, getting to the finals is the expected goal but the supporters should
accept that Brazil 2014 is a tournament where expectations are low and chances
of ending the 48 years of hurt are almost nil.
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