England 0 Slovakia 0: Roy Hodgson’s team gamble fails to pay off as Three Lions draw a blank in St Etienne
Three Lions have to settle for runners-up in Group B as goalscoring problems haunt the team despite total dominance
THE truth is we are sick and tired of finishing second best.
It is all happening again, Roy, and nobody can ever come to terms with it.
England’s boss was too damn clever for his own good, showing off to his Uefa chums by making six changes for Slovakia.
He mixed, matched, and got hopelessly muddled up.
Joined-up thinking would have told him to pick his main men and get the job done inside the hour.
Slovakia were there for the taking, they really were.
A few hundred miles down the road in Toulouse, Chris Coleman only started sparing some tired legs when Wales were home and hosed against Russia.
Gareth Bale, Joe Ledley and Joe Allen were all taken off in the final 20 minutes.
By then, they were 3-0 up and top dogs again.
Here in Saint-Etienne Hodgson was barking up the wrong tree and England, shamefully really, contrived to finish second in a group behind a country they beat five days ago.
That is the price we must pay after Clever Clogs got carried away with the streaky smash and grab against Wales.
It says everything that the call for Wayne Rooney to rescue England came after only 56 minutes against Slovakia.
A man of his experience — 113 caps and 52 goals — should have been on from the start. Obvious, really.
England are not good enough to start meddling around like this at the highest level.
When Hodgson sent for more — Dele Alli and Harry Kane both came on — and England searched for something, anything, to spark them into life. This time, there was no reprieve.
Still, our route to the final — via Nice, Paris, Marseilles and Paris — certainly looks appealing on paper. But Hodgson will have to rip it up and start again after this.
England will play the Group F runners-up in Nice on Monday. At least the weather is holding up down there.
France — in their own backyard — loom in the last eight.
Before that happens we must pick the bones out of this depressing performance.
Passes were overhit, miscued or simply careless.
Jack Wilshere, gifted though he is, simply had to make way for Rooney after the break. He had one out there and he knows it.
Every pass, every trick, every flick, seemed to fall into the feet of Slovakia’s tenacious, resilient midfield.
Behind them Jan Durica perhaps gave the performance of his life alongside Martin Skrtel at the heart of Slovakia’s defence.
When he flew threw the air to put his head where it surely hurt to deny Jordan Henderson, England knew this would be a tough nut to crack.
Henderson had a decent game, save for the stray, Hollywood pass that drifted over Daniel Sturridge’s head in the first half.
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With the exception of the opening 45 minutes against Russia, England have looked no better than many of the other mediocre teams in France.
They are having so much possession and so many shots — 29 attempts last night — but cannot put the opposition away.
The finishing, even with Jamie Vardy and Sturridge on the field, is proving to be the hard bit.
Worryingly, those two looked better when they came on against Wales than they did when they started here.
They had so many chances here, especially in the first half.
Two fell for Vardy, with the first flying off the top of his left thigh and over the bar after connecting with Nathaniel Clyne’s cross.
The next, when he was clean through after 17 minutes, was brilliantly kept out by keeper Matus Kozacik.
The Slovakian’s next save was his best, though, flinging himself across goal to prevent Adam Lallana scoring.
In 26 appearances Lallana has never known what it feels like to see the ball ripple the back of the net in England colours.
Perhaps he never will.
It was hopelessly one-sided, even if Chris Smalling’s mix-up with Joe Hart caused some mild panic in the second half.
Vladimir Weiss had a chance moments later but this really should have been a high-scoring England night.
Sturridge was subdued, even when he eeked out a chance for Clyne.
Kozacik came to Slovakia’s rescue again.
Alli, on for Lallana after an hour, nearly scored with his first touch but it was somehow deflected over the bar.
Hodgson threw on Kane, hoping beyond hope that one of England’s forwards would finally get a toe on the ball.
They all had a go but even with Rooney on the field it never quite happened.
Instead, England have come off second. Again.
LOOK WHAT'S COMING UP
HERE’S what England face in the knockout stages, and we’re not talking about Paul Pogba. The France star holds the adidas ‘Fracas’ ball which will be introduced for the second phase. It replaces the ‘Beau Jeu’ and has been tested by the likes of Gareth Bale and Iker Casillas.
