By Simon Wright – Follow
me on Twitter @Siwri88
For the first
time in 10 matches and a full calendar year, Roy Hodgson tasted defeat as
England manager on Friday night.
On a night
full of experimentation at Wembley Stadium, the Three Lions barely breathed any
fire as the classy South Americans from Chile outclassed them for a deserved
2-0 friendly victory. Alexis Sanchez repeated Marcelo Salas’ double act from a
previous encounter between the sides in 1998 with a marvellous brace for the
visitors.
As it was a
friendly match, the result wasn’t a complete disaster but it is a dose of
reality for Hodgson, England and those fans who still are dreaming of lifting
aloft the World Cup in the Maracana Stadium next July. That is only a distant
dream on the evidence of the performance displayed by the hosts on Friday
night.
Hodgson
wasn’t helped by the withdrawals of Michael Carrick from the squad altogether,
as well as late absentees in Kyle Walker, Rickie Lambert, Daniel Sturridge and
skipper Steven Gerrard. It did feel like a patched up side and aside from the
first five minutes when Chile captain and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had to make
a couple of flamboyant saves, they were second best throughout.
To be fair to
the manager, he did give three debuts to players on Friday. Celtic’s Fraser
Forster, who has excelled in Champions League matches this season finally got
his chance in place of the error strewn Joe Hart. Forster had a quiet evening
but was blameless for both goals and he did what he had to do. While Hart will
get his first match on Tuesday night against Germany since the howler in
stoppage time at Chelsea last month that cost him his place in the Manchester
City starting 11, Forster has given the national boss something to think about.
He could be a bigger contender for the number one jersey in goal if Hart
struggles to win back his club place at Eastlands.
The
Southampton duo of Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez (both pictured) also got their rewards for
fine domestic form with their first international caps. For Rodriguez, he
didn’t make the most of the opportunity and seemed quite overwhelmed by the
whole experience. It is unlikely that he will feature again in the preparation
games before the 23-man party is revealed at the end of May.
On the other
hand, Lallana played well in the circumstances and whilst his performance
lacked the fireworks that club team-mate Lambert and Tottenham’s Andros
Townsend had produced in more recent international debuts, the winger did his
cause no harm at all. He is an option for Hodgson and at this point in time,
has a good chance of making the squad.
The manager
will be missing Phil Jones for the Germany friendly in midweek, as he has
returned to Manchester United with a groin injury. It continues his run of
constant injuries and that has to be a concern for player and country,
especially with Steven Caulker of Cardiff City and Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross as
decent back-ups but lacking international experience. Options are thin behind
the regular pairing of Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka at the heart of the
England defence and perhaps, Hodgson needs another leader in his alternatives.
An offer for the retired John Terry to come out of international retirement is
unlikely but might have to be considered if Jones’ injury problems don’t get
solved over the winter.
Germany will
arrive at Wembley fresh from a 1-1 draw with Italy in Milan on Friday evening
but will be missing Manuel Neuer, Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger and
Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil. They won’t be at full strength but have plenty at
their disposal to put in a performance that would make them the most serious of
European challengers to the South American teams next summer.
For England,
the result is important on Tuesday because it is against the old enemy but a
bit more creativity wouldn’t go amiss after the limp display provided to the
Wembley faithful against Chile. However, it will need to take some freakish
circumstances for Gerrard to lift the main international prize in nine months’ time.
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