ENGLAND WATCH: Dull Wembley, dull performance yet again

You really just have to risk sounding like a broken record at this point if you plan on writing about England.  While I expect few people to read this (I probably wouldn’t if I was not writing it, who wants to think about what just went on), perhaps the more we all write about it, the more people will all wake up in full.

If there ever was an indication that the expectations that usually surround the over-hyped Three Lions were lacking, perhaps it was best summed up by only 40,000 people witnessing their dull 1-0 win over Norway at a ground that holds 90,000.  Yes England won, and yes you can only draw so many conclusions from a friendly, but this result mirror so many England performances from both friendlies and major tournaments – they were poor and uninspired.

Now that the fans have had their say via Twitter, I’ll go into mine a little bit, but will be sure not to keep you all that long, as I am sure it is more exciting to paint your back-yard fence and then watch it dry rather than read about the sad state the national team is in.  Simply put, England were shockingly poor against a less than threatening Norway side.

To be fair, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling did bring a little pace and flair, with their growing partnership at Anfield looking like one of the only things that any England supporter can be happy about in the coming months and years.  Alex Oxlade Chamberlain cannot get a run in at Arsenal, but once again he played well for his country – that’s basically about it to be honest.

Wayne Rooney celebrates his 41st international goal for England, putting him 4th all-time on the list; despite it, he was poor as per usual (image courtesy of England’s official Facebook page)

Wayne Rooney scored yet again in a useless friendly, this time from the spot for the only goal of the night.  The Manchester United talisman now has 41 goals in 96 caps for his country, lining him up for an eventual final assault on the all-time goalscoring record still held by Sir Bobby Charlton (49), and with only Jimmy Greaves (44) and Gary Lineker (48) standing in his way.  The problem? Well, that’s easy – only five of Rooney’s goals have come in a major tournament, the other 36 have been in qualifiers or useless friendlies such as tonight’s.

Not only was Rooney poor on the night (despite him taking his goal from the spot quite well), but there was never a moment where you could look down on the pitch and really get a sense that the captain was trying to push his troops on.  Lethargic in the first half, never trying to inspire, you just have to wonder if the likes of Gary Cahill was not a far better choice – surely, it’s Rooney’s name and nothing more than granted him the appointment.

Only Roy Hodgson can fail to get the very best out of Raheem Sterling (pictured), Daniel Sturridge and other England players who are brilliant at club level (image courtesy of England’s official Facebook page)

As for good old Roy Hodgson, well, if you’ve been paying attention since well before the World Cup, you know my opinions on him.  Given the type of attacking talent England do have, and the central midfielders willing to work, why Roy opted for a 4-4-2 with a flat midfield is surely beyond anyone’s comprehension.  A 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 or a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield at least would have made far more sense, but if Hodgson has proven anything during his England tenure, it’s that he largely has no idea what he actually is doing, and that he is too pragmatic to change.

With Switzerland to come as England’s opening fixture of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign at St. Jakob Park, they’ll come up against a side with plenty of attacking talent, flair, a hard working and creative midfield, and an organized back-four.  While it is unlikely that they’ll get played off the park completely, would anyone really be shocked if they did nothing but underwhelm yet again?