The national teams are all in action for the next week or so, with many countries still attempting to book their place for World Cup 2022. England has already qualified, so the next few matches will be centered on manager Gareth Southgate deciding who he wants to take on the plane with him. Switzerland have already qualified as well, so they were in a similar mindset. When your team qualifies from their group outright and you don’t have to worry about a tricky playoff fixture, you have the luxury of focusing on different tactical formations and player lineups. Today’s match at Wembley was an example of both sides trying to figure out what works best for them.
England had some injury issues at the back coming into the match, which forced Southgate to play a back three of Connor Coady, Ben White, and Marc Guéhi (on his England debut). After this match, I don’t think Southgate will be eager to go back to that formation with those specific players. The Swiss aren’t known as a dominant attacking side, but they were very strong in the first half and found a lot of space on the wings behind the wingbacks. Indeed, it was Swiss legend Xerdan Shaqiri who found a bit of room on the right-hand edge of the box for a cross that led to the opening goal for the Swiss. Shaqiri wasn’t closed down properly, and he was able to get in a left-footed aerial cross that found the head of striker Breel Embolo. Embolo redirected the ball back across goal, and England keeper Jordan Pickford had no chance to get to it. Shaqiri should have been closed down on the edge of the box, and White was too far away from Embolo to get to the cross first. 1-0 to the Swiss and England couldn’t really complain about it.
England were lucky to not be down 2-0 shortly after that, after a shot from Shaqiri struck the hand of Pickford and rebounded off the underside of the cross bar. The Three Lions woke up a bit after that though, and finally started making some runs forward consistently and causing problems for the Swiss at the back. England and Crystal Palace right back Kyle Walker-Peters (not to be confused with Kyle Walker, it’s two different guys!) was causing problems down the right hand side. He was combining well with Chelsea loaned-Crystal Palace winger Connor Gallagher, and the Swiss weren’t sure how to mark them properly. Their pressing led to a giveaway from Swiss defender Fabian Frei, as Walker-Peters was able to block his poor clearance straight into the path of Gallagher. Gallagher played the ball along the ground, with midfielder Mason Mount letting the ball roll across his path. England and Manchester United left back Luke Shaw was on hand to strike the ball directly at the goal, and it was a sumptuous strike into the left side of the goal that gave deputy Swiss keeper Jonas Omlin no chance. Shaw doesn’t score many, but he did well to be in the right place at the right time. The Swiss hadn’t made many mistakes up to that point, but England punished them nonetheless.
The second half was nowhere near as fluid as the first, likely due to the litany of changes brought by both managers right around the hour mark. Both sides were defending well, but neither side was creating many dangerous chances. England had shifted to a back-4 with White moving out to right back, a change which seemed to suit him well. The Swiss could maintain possession, but they couldn’t find that final dangerous pass.
England got their second goal and eventual winner from talisman striker Harry Kane on 78 minutes from the penalty spot. A cross came in from the right wing that England headed towards goal, only to see it blocked by the raised arm by Swiss midfielder Steven Zuber. The ref did not award a penalty at first, but after a lengthy VAR check it was decided that a penalty was to be given. By the letter of the law it probably was a handball, although in the past under different iterations of the rule, it may not have been. Zuber had his back to the ball and knew nothing about where it was, but he had his right arm extended out from his body when the ball made contact. Any time an arm is in an “unnatural position” that helps the defender cover more space, there is always a chance a penalty will be awarded.
Kane stepped up to the spot and buried the ball in the left side of the net. Omlin actually guessed correctly and went to his right to save it, but the power and placement of the shot made the ball very difficult to save. Kane now has an astonishing 49 goals for England on just 48 caps, and he is now level second with the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton on England’s all-time scoring list. Kane is simply world-class. Ok yes this was a friendly and yes he would be expected to score from the penalty spot, but to be only 28 and a scant 4 goals behind Wayne Rooney’s all-time record is absolutely staggering. No doubts about his place in the squad when it is time to travel to the World Cup. If he carries on like he is doing and wins a trophy with England, it is very likely he goes down as the best English player of all time.
The rest of the match was mostly drama-free, with England’s talented subs creating a few half chances before the final whistle went. England won the match 2-1, and it’s always good to win in any situation. Southgate will have plenty of food for thought going into Tuesday’s match against Ivory Coast. Rotational players like Gallagher, Walker-Peters, Guéhi, and late sub Tyrick Mitchell all did well; but as alluded to it would be surprising if England played a back-3 again any time soon. If they do, it will be with different players in the line-up. The Swiss took advantage of the space on the wings far too often today, so the experiment there today probably won’t be attempted again. This wasn’t a classic or clinical performance by any standard, bur England got over the line in the end. Room for improvement for sure, but you’re never going to see the best football in a friendly.
Ivory Coast presents a different set of challenges, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Southgate switched things up again for that match. At tournament time, you need to be able to win as many different ways as possible, and you have to be ready to defend against many different styles of play. I would like to see Gallagher and Walker-Peters given more opportunities to shine.
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Quick note: spare a moment to laugh at Italy. The reigning European champions were eliminated from World Cup 2022 qualification by minnows North Macedonia earlier in the week. A huge upset, and it means a second consecutive World Cup without Italy in it. Couldn’t have happened to a better set of fans and players 😉
4-4-2 