3️⃣ points as England taste qualifying defeat away in Prague | OneFootball

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Alex Mott·11 October 2019

3️⃣ points as England taste qualifying defeat away in Prague

Article image:3️⃣ points as England taste qualifying defeat away in Prague

England let a one-goal lead slip as they tasted defeat for the first time in this Euro 2020 qualifying round.

Harry Kane had given Gareth Southgate’s side the advantage early on, but the Czech Republic came back and netted their winner late on thanks to Zdenek Ondrasek.


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Becoming a problem

Article image:3️⃣ points as England taste qualifying defeat away in Prague

Raheem Sterling. Jadon Sancho. Harry Kane. In reserve – Marcus Rashford, Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Make no bones about it, England have one of the very best attacks in world football.

It’s a shame then, about their League Two-esque defence.

As we’ve seen over countless tournaments recently, backlines win trophies. Think France at the last World Cup or Portugal at the previous European Championships.

You don’t have to have a world beating strikeforce to lift silverware at international level, but you sure do have to have a solid defence.

England, right now, are shambolic in that particular area and need to buck their ideas up before next summer’s pan-European tournament.

All five positions in the defence are up for grabs right now, with Michael Keane and Danny Rose in particular ready for the block.

Both were especially poor tonight, which saw the exclusions of Ben Chilwell and Fikayo Tomori as particularly galling.


A muddled midfield

Article image:3️⃣ points as England taste qualifying defeat away in Prague

Let’s not tread over old ground here – and perhaps compared to the attack, any area of this England side would look weak.

But for as long as Gareth Southgate has been manager, the midfield has seemed second-rate and in need of some invention.

He tried that this evening in Prague, with Mason Mount making his first start after a fine period of form for Chelsea.

But why oh why did Jordan Henderson and Declan Rice start the game?

Both perform the same job in this England midfield, picking up the ball from defence and looking to play quick passes.

That’s fine if you need some protecting – say against an Italy or a Spain – but not here.

As a result England looked one-paced and struggled to find anyone who could break the lines and make something happen in the transition between defence and attack.

Southgate is a forward-thinking manager who has the right ideas about the game, but his inability to pick an England midfield that’s right for the occasion is starting to be a concern.


Just not their night

Article image:3️⃣ points as England taste qualifying defeat away in Prague

England will quality for Euro 2020, of that we can be almost certain.

But when the likes of Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling aren’t performing, you can safely say that this wasn’t England’s night.

That could be down to preparation, a resolute Czech Republic or a passé attitude from the players – or a mix of all three.

But whatever reason, this was a return to the old England. The Roy Hodgson England. The Steve McLaren England.

A late goal from Ondrasek ensured that the home side claimed all three points, in what was a thoroughly deserved win.

Better in Sofia on Monday please, lads.