International Break – England Qualify for Euro 2024!

The recent international break saw England play two matches, both of which were at Wembley Stadium in London. The first match was a friendly played against Australia that was largely not entertaining. The Three Lions won 1-0 thanks to a fairly routine finish from Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins, who slid the ball home from close range after a low cross from Tottenham midfielder James Maddison. Always good to win of course, but no one really cared about this match. It was only a friendly, and England never play Australia outside of major tournaments. Everyone’s eyes were on the second match, a qualifier against Italy.

Italy and England have developed a little bit of a rivalry in recent years, largely thanks to the tense and bitter Euro 2020(1) final between the two nations a few years ago. England’s traditional rivals have always been Germany, France, and Argentina; yet Italy might be working their way into that conversation as well. Of course, Italy has historically dominated this matchup. It wasn’t even until earlier this year that England beat the Azzuri in Rome for the first time in 50+ years. This match carried extra importance as well. If England won (or earned a draw pending other results in the group), they would qualify for Euro 2024 next summer in Germany. It would be extra sweet to qualify by doing the double over Italy for England and manager Gareth Southgate. For the Italians and manager Luciano Spalletti, the alarm bells were beginning to sound. Despite winning Euro 2020(1), they have been fairly shambolic since. They failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, and are in real danger of not automatically qualifying for the Euros next summer unless they won this match.

And to their credit, for the opening 20 minutes or so, Italy were the better side. They took the lead on 15 minutes thanks to a high and powerful finish from West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca from about 10 yards out. Italy has needed a strong no. 9 for a few years now, and they seem to have found one in Scamacca. England needed a response, and they got one with a bit of luck from VAR. Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham was brought down in the box, and England were awarded a penalty on the half hour mark. After a lengthy VAR review, the call for a penalty stood despite it appearing that the defender got the ball before clipping Bellingham. But given how terrible VAR has been this year so far though, I will happily take VAR review going England’s way. Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane stepped up to the spot and sent Paris St. Germain and Italy keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma the wrong way with a finish into the right hand side of the net. It was Kane’s 60th goal in an England shirt, which of course continues to be the most for any England player ever. The sides went into the locker room at 1-1 after 45 minutes, with the home side in the ascendancy.

England continued their dominance into the early parts of the second half, and they were rewarded with a second goal on 57 minutes from Manchester United winger/forward Marcus Rashford. Bellingham was at the center of things again, playing the ball out wide to Rashford under pressure before running forward to join the attack. Rashford cut inside onto his right foot and skipped passed a challenge before finishing low into the right corner of the goal, with Donnarumma rooted to the spot. Rashford hasn’t gotten off to the best start at United this season, but he showed no signs of poor form with this goal. The Italian defense gave him space, and he punished them for it. Well done to Bellingham to beat the pressure he faced to provide the assist, as well. 2-1 to England, with Italy reeling.

England got a third to seal three points and Euro qualification on 77 minutes via the right boot of Kane. This was one of his more impressive England goals, as he showed how he has developed his game and evolved into a more complete striker as he has gotten older. He won a 50/50 ball on the halfway line against one of the Italian center backs, with the ball breaking kindly for him. As the Italians were playing with a high line while searching for their equalizer, Kane found himself through on goal after a nifty touch about 40 yards out. He is not known for his speed, but he used his strength and positioning skills to shield off challenges from behind him while he brought the ball forward. Donnarumma rushed out to try and narrow the angle, but Kane coolly finished over his left shoulder and made it look easy doing so. 61 goals for Kane, but more importantly, he sealed the win for England and sent the crowd inside Wembley into ecstasy.

The match ended 3-1, and there are many plaudits to be handed out. Well done to all the lads for showing composure after going down early and providing the response needed to book our tickets to Germany next summer. Italy now need serious help to qualify, as they find themselves in 3rd place in the group. It feels extremely satisfying to do the double over Italy this year and potentially send them into a tricky playoff in the process.

I could justifiably give Man of the Match to Kane for his two goals, but in this case it belongs to Bellingham. He had a hand in two of the three goals scored today and was a presence in midfield for most of the match. Jude Bellingham, Jude Bellingham, Jude Bellingham. I can’t say this young man’s name enough. He is only 20, but he is arguably the most naturally talented English player I have ever seen. This is a player who can truly do it all – dribble, pass, press, tackle, position play, and finishing. He’s been Real Madrid’s best player so far this season, and he continued his sensational form in an England shirt against Italy. Never seen a lad his size with such balance and composure. He also seems to be a bit more mature than his age would suggest, as most of his teammates for club and country describe how they love to play alongside him. The sky is the limit for Bellingham, and it’s arguable that he is (on form) the best player in the world even right now. I am so, so happy he plays for England. We have another 12 to13 years to look forward to of Jude Bellingham playing for us.

England have qualified with two matches to spare, which means that Southgate can treat the next two matches as friendlies if he wants to. This is a chance for him to experiment with line-ups and tactics, so as to be as prepared as possible for next summer’s Euros. He has hinted this will be his last tournament with England, and if it is, I hope he goes out on top. Of course, historically, qualifying for major tournaments has not been England’s problem. The disaster of 2008 notwithstanding, England usually qualify. The question remains though – can we win one? Can we win a trophy? This team looks insanely good on paper, and we have even more depth on the bench than we did last November at the World Cup. Bellingham and Kane are on fire, Rashford is coming on, and superstar Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka didn’t even play in this match. We are loaded at every position, and we need to win a trophy with this generation of players. Southgate has all the tools he needs to win, but can they finally get over the line for a nation dying of thirst for a trophy? We will see next summer!

Three Lions On the Shirts!

Euro Qualifier: England Cruise Past Ukraine

The Three Lions played host to Ukraine earlier today at Wembley Stadium in their second qualifier for Euro 2024 in Germany. Having already gotten off to a fantastic start against Italy, England would be looking to do the same against a potentially tricky Ukrainian team. There is no single group of players who have more team unity and collective spirit than Ukraine right now. They know that most of the Western world, aside from their immediate opponents of course, would be hoping that they do well during qualification so that their people could have something to celebrate. The pre-match festivities were centered on the struggle of Ukraine in their war against Russia, and the English FA was also hosting a charity drive to help the victims of the war. When you pair that “bunker” mentality and spirit with talents like striker Mykhailo Mudryk and winger Oleksandr Zinchenko, this match could easily turn into a long day at the office for England. Managers Andriy Shevchenko and Gareth Southgate would have expected both their teams to put up a strong fight.

Unfortunately, the one word that sums up most of this match was “tepid”. This is the first game I have watched in ages between any two teams where not much really happened. There was so much inaction for the opening 35 minutes or so that the camera operators were more frequently showing the joyous Ukraine supporters dancing around than anything happening on the pitch. England were the better side in terms of possession and pushing forward, but they were only creating half-chances at best. Ukraine was doing even less, as they were often struggling to get out of their own half.

England pushed themselves into the lead however on 37 minutes when the newly-crowned all time leader in England goals, Harry Kane, rose over the head of his marker to poke home a cross from winger/forward Bukayo Saka. England had been threatening for a few minutes prior to the goal, but they finally got the ball over the line via Kane. Not a super remarkable goal, but a good cross from Saka and good positioning and strength from Kane. He now has 55 goals in an England shirt, and that tally will only continue to rise. The only question people have about Kane now is how many he’s going to have by the time he retires.

England capitalized on their dominance again just three minutes later, and it seemed the Ukrainians were mentally rattled a little bit. Saka did most of the work by himself this time. He collected a short pass from midfielder Jordan Henderson on the right wing just outside the box, then shrugged off his marker with relative ease. After taking a touch or two, he unleashed a beautiful curling shot from about 20 yards out that flew into the opposite top corner. Ukraine keeper Anatoliy Trubin could do nothing but pick it out of his own net afterwards. His defenders let him down by allowing Saka to have so much space. It was a truly wonderful strike from a player in absolutely top form right now. Saka is having an amazing season at the club level, and his form has carried over to the national team. 2-0 to England, and they were feeling very comfortable indeed.

Shevchenko would have wanted a response from his men in the second half, but it never really materialized. Aside from some instances where England were forced into key defensive tackles, the Ukrainians never really got going at any point. It’s disappointing from their point of view. Talent-wise they should be challenging teams like England, but they looked very disjointed with their passing today. Not a lot of direction or purpose about them, and they weren’t communicating well at all. There were times when it looked like none of the Ukrainians had met one another before. As the clock ticked closer to full time, England looked much more likely to get a 3rd goal than the Ukrainians were to pulling one back. I don’t think they even registered a shot on Jordan Pickford’s goal. The second half was frankly boring, aside from a few England half-chances towards the end. Shevchenko has a lot of work to do with this group if they want to qualify for next summer’s tournament.

The final whistle blew without much fanfare, and the England lads celebrated an efficient victory. England have 6 out of 6 points from their first two matches, and that was objective number one for Southgate and his players. There weren’t a ton of goals scored in either match, but this one was an improvement over the Italy match on Thursday if only because the Three Lions were much more in control over the entirety of the match. Two very strong matches defensively. I would have liked to see one more scored against Ukraine today to really underline England’s superiority, but having sole possession of the lead in Group C with some easier matches coming up is certainly nothing to complain about. Southgate will be happy with the result, especially given he was without several normal starters who withdrew from the squad either due to injury or other reasons. He will be happy that he has the strength in depth necessary to get wins even without those star players. Good games from Kane, Saka, attacking midfielder James Maddison, and the England defense as a collective.

The international break is now over, which means that all the players return to their clubs for the final sprint to the finish of the season. England next play on June 16, 2023 away to Malta in another Euro 2024 qualifier. The next match I will be recapping is Manchester United away to Newcastle on April 2nd in the Premier League.

Three Lions on the Shirts!

Premier League: Solid Victory Over Leicester City

Manchester United played host to Midlands side Leicester City earlier today at Old Trafford in the Premier League. Leicester and manager Brendan Rodgers knew they were up against a team in good form today, but the 2016 champions are on the edge of relegation territory and would want at least a point from this match to keep themselves afloat. United manager Erik ten Hag has the Red Devils in their best form in years, but despite that this match had the feeling of a “trap game.” With Barcelona coming to Old Trafford on Thursday, it would be easy for the players to look past the Foxes and not be as mentally ready as needed.

The “trap game” concerns were well-founded in the opening 20 minutes or so. Even though United had created some early pressure, it was Leicester who had the first good chance when striker Harvey Barnes forced a last-ditch save from United keeper David De Gea just 8 minutes into the game. He was through on goal and should have scored, but the shot-stopping prowess of De Gea showed through. He was called into action again just as the clock struck 21 minutes, making a diving save to his right to deny Foxes striker Kelechi Iheanacho’s header. Leicester were causing all kinds of problems down their attacking right side, with United struggling to create anything meaningful of their own.

But it was United who got the first goal of the match on 25 minutes, somewhat against the run of play. Leicester gave the ball away around the halfway line, and it was immediately played into the feet of midfielder Bruno Fernandes on the right wing. He spotted striker Marcus Rashford ahead of him, and played a brilliant side-footed pass over the top and into the path of Rashford’s run. The Leicester defense was all over the place with several men out of position, and Rashford was able to run straight at keeper Danny Ward’s goal unimpeded. He got into the box, spotted the opening, and calmly put it to the left of Ward and into the back of the net from about 12 yards out. A good goal from United, but it must be said that the defending from Leicester was very poor. Rashford is in the form of his life right now and whatever the plan was for marking him, they didn’t stick to it. You can’t give him that much space and time on the ball, or he will punish you. 1-0 to United!

Leicester midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall shot wide of the goal on 30 minutes as the away side attempted to respond. But they were nearly further undone on 36 minutes when right back Diogo Dalot played a 1-2 with Bruno, but he couldn’t get clean contact on the return pass and he pushed it wide. Foxes midfielder James Maddison shot wide from distance in first half stoppage time and left back Luke Shaw blazed over from a free kick, but there were no further goals and United went into the locker room ahead 1-0. It felt though that United would need more than one goal before they would feel comfortable about winning.

Fortunately, United came alive in the second half. Center back Lisandro Martinez saw a header go off the crossbar on 49 minutes from another Shaw free kick. Bruno forced Ward into a save from distance shortly after that, with Rashford also forcing Ward into action after a fine counter-attack. Rashford actually did have the ball in the back of the net on 56 minutes after a great through-ball from midfielder Fred, but the flag went up for offside. VAR checked the offside though, and for once it actually went in United’s favor. The goal was awarded due to a Leicester defender on the far side of the pitch playing Rashford on, and Rashford got his second goal of the day. 24 on the season now, and 2-0 United!

The lads were really going for it at that point. The confidence was sky-high and it was great to see them playing that way. United got their third goal on 61 minutes after some fantastic teamwork in attack. Rashford brought the ball forward quickly after Leicester gave it away near the halfway line. He then took a few touches before playing in substitute midfielder/winger Jadon Sancho. Sancho took a touch or two on the edge of the box before finding Bruno out to his right, after which he continued running forward towards the goal. Bruno hit a return pass perfectly into the feet of Sancho, and he prodded it home with his left foot. Ward had no chance. It’s so great that Sancho is getting back to the heights of powers. He’s an absurdly talented player and seeing him score goals and coordinate fluid attacking moves is exactly what United brought him in to do. 3-0!

United continued their domination of Leicester throughout the rest of the match. Shaw and Sancho both went close to getting a 4th, but there were no more goals scored by either side as United slowed down a bit in the final 15 minutes. The points were in the bag and they have a huge match against Barcelona on Thursday, so they opted to retain possession and kill the clock. Leicester had a shot on goal that forced De Gea into a save in stoppage time, but the clean sheet remained intact. The final whistle blew without further major incident and United won 3-0!

An excellent match from Rashford, Bruno, Fred, Sancho (when he came on), Shaw, Dalot, De Gea, and midfielder Marcel Sabitzer. Sabitzer has quietly been very neat and tidy with his possession and passing since signing on loan from Bayern Munich in January. He knows where to play the ball, and he has the technical skill to carry it through midfield if needed. I liked the attacking tactic deployed by ETH today (and in previous matches) where the fullbacks (Dalot and Shaw) are sent on attacking runs through the middle of the pitch. Usually fullbacks remain wide and hit crosses into the box, and while United’s fullbacks do that too, they are routinely cutting inside from their defensive position to make a run into the middle of the box. It causes confusion among the opposing defense because they don’t appear to be sure how to mark them. Rashford being in sensational form helps cause issues as well, because when the fullback is running into the middle either he or Bruno are lurking nearby. ETH has set up this team brilliantly, and most importantly the players have bought in to what he wants to do. Absolutely brilliant day today from everyone.

United remain 3rd in the table, but are now just three points behind 2nd place Manchester City with the same number of games played. League leaders Arsenal are 5 points ahead, but they also have a game in hand. It can be said out loud now – United are likely in the title race. Of course that can change very easily week-to-week, but United are breathing down the necks of the contenders. They remain 7 points clear of Tottenham in 4th place.

Next up is Barcelona at Old Trafford on Thursday, in the return leg of the Round of 32 in the Europa League. A 2-2 at the Camp Nou last week means the tie finely poised, and I feel both teams are really going to go for it.

Glory Glory Man United! Glazers Out!

Three Wins In a Row; Transfer Window Round-Up

Manchester United travelled to Leicester, England today to play Leicester City at the King Power Stadium. United were looking to win three matches in a row for the first time since December 2021, while Leicester and manager Brendan Rodgers were merely looking for their first three points of the season. This fixture has been tricky for the Red Devils in recent years, as has been playing on the road in general.

But no real worries today! It needs to be noted that Leicester are rather poor, as they basically did not show up in attack for the entirety of the first half. I don’t recall United keeper David De Gea needing to make a save, and United controlled the game very easily. But if the other team looks poor, it’s usually because your team is doing something right. I was highly impressed with the tactical shape of the team in the first half and indeed for most of the match. Credit to manager Erik ten Hag for employing such tactics, as the Foxes had nowhere to go with the ball.

The one and only goal in this match came in the 23rd minute via winger Jadon Sancho, and it was about a simple a goal as you will ever see in the Prem. A long clearance was recovered by right back Diogo Dalot, who then played the ball up the right wing to Bruno Fernandes. Bruno spotted Marcus Rashford making a run in behind the Leicester defenders, so he played a weighted pass to him. Rashford’s run into the box pulled away the marker from Sancho, and Rashford then tapped it over to Sancho also on a run alongside him. Sancho took a touch to take it around Leicester keeper Danny Ward, and slotted the ball home calmly into an open net. A fantastic team goal that really showed what United can do when they’re switched on. Only about 20 seconds elapsed between Dalot winning the ball and Sancho putting it in the net! Lightning.

Aside from a 10 minute spell in the opening of the 2nd half, Leicester never really got on the ball nor did they make things nervous for United. Midfielder James Maddison’s free kick on 50 minutes was probably their best chance of the whole match, but it was parried away by De Gea. United’s tactical shape was again excellent, and it got even stronger with the additions of Casemiro and Cristiano Ronaldo. Their experience helped provide some stability to the team and helped United get over the line. A professional victory from a team that needs to show some professionalism.

United are now up to 9 points in the Prem, and they sit 5th in the table with every club now having played five matches. Considering where we were after the first two matches, it seems that ETH has tidied things up and righted the ship. The defense has been spectacular the past three matches in particular. I very much like the center back pairing of Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane. They communicate well, compliment each other well, and have allowed 1 goal in the past 180+ minutes of football. Let’s keep that going for as long as possible. Bruno was Man of the Match today, though. He was always exactly in the right place that he needed to be in whether on the ball or off the ball, and had a key pass in the buildup to Sancho’s goal. I certainly hope he maintains this form going forward.

A much sterner test awaits at Old Trafford on Sunday when Arsenal come to visit. They are the only team this season to win all five of their opening matches, and will assuredly provide a real test for the tactical nous of ETH and the concentration of the players. It feels as if United are building momentum though, so as long as it’s a respectable performance I’ll be happy.

Glory Glory Man United!

***

The summer transfer window closes in about 20 minutes from the time of writing this post, and United were very busy indeed. They have brought in:

RB Tyrell Malacia (Feyenoord)

CB Lisandro Martinez (Ajax)

CM Christian Eriksen (free agent)

CM Casemiro (Real Madrid)

RW Antony (Ajax)

GK Martin Dubravka (loan from Newcastle)

I like all these signings as we have FINALLY addressed the lack of a defensive midfielder by bringing in Casemiro. Malacia and Martinez have already shown what they can do, and if the rest of the signings do as well as those two, it will have been a successful transfer window. I still don’t like our overall transfer strategy though, as it appears we do not have one. Why did it take so long to get a guy like Casemiro? How come all this business wasn’t handled before the start of the season? Why has it taken until now for Director of Football John Murtough to put together a competent transfer window? Why was promising youth midfielder James Garner allowed to leave? Even if all these signings come good and United have a great year, any success won’t be sustainable without a clear and coherent long-term strategy. We had to pay through the nose to get Antony and Casemiro, and I’m hoping that we haven’t burdened ourselves with more massive contracts for players who don’t pan out. We did a good job of unloading some bloated contracts for underperforming players over the summer (Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Andreas Pereira) but I’ll be livid if it turns out we’ve gone and made the same mistakes again.

Even though United won today and things appear to be improving, it’s still Glazer’s Out!