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England Must Fix Defensive Concerns, Make Brave Choices to Save World Cup Dream
Published: June 15, 2014
Daniel Sturridge cancelled out Claudio Marchisio's opening goal almost instantly, but Mario Balotelli scored a header just into the second half, a second deficit from which Roy Hodgson's men could not recover.
While the performance was decent, verging on good at times, from England, there will be frustrations that they perhaps didn't push on as much as they could have done to take something from the game, as well as a number of concerns throughout the team which must be addressed before the crucial fixture against Uruguay.
Defending the Flanks
England were penned back frequently in the first half by the runs down the flanks from Marchisio and, in particular, Antonio Candreva. The right-sided player was given far, far too much time and space—and frequency of repeating the move—to dart beyond Leighton Baines at right-back, looking to cross or pull the ball back into space.
Wayne Rooney would or could not track back to double up, the midfield shape didn't tilt over enough to compensate and, as a result, there was no attacking threat from Baines and no respite for the full-back from the danger posed down his channel.
On the opposite flank, Glen Johnson did well enough defensively but similarly lacked cover in the first half when Italy dominated possession, but unlike Baines who improved offensively, Johnson remained slow to release the ball and gifted it back to Italy too often.
Of course, it might be expected that England will not face such quality opposition down the flanks every game, but Costa Rica showed that their wing-backs will happily push on and show great pace, which in a 3-4-3 can easily lead to an overload against England's wide defenders. Uruguay can switch their tactics about at will, and while they lo...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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