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laboured to a 1-1 draw with the Irish, Frank Lampard sparing his side’s blushes with an equaliser after Shane Long’s brilliant header.
England legend Lineker was stinging in his criticism of the display on Twitter. Lineker said:
“Don’t like England playing this system. Easy to play against. Brazil will thrash us if we line up the same way. Predictable and dated.
“Even though results haven’t been great, felt tactically England were maturing, but this is a step back to the dark ages.
“It’s not about playing in straight lines, it’s about playing between the lines. Depth gives flexibility, passing alternatives, creativity.’”
The England squad boarded their 2am flight yesterday ahead of Sunday’s clash against Brazil in the midst of a mini injury crisis over their strikers after Daniel Sturridge was ruled out of the friendly with an ankle injury.
The Liverpool striker went off after 30 minutes, moments after setting-up Lampard’s equaliser.
Sturridge left Wembley on crutches and wearing a protective boot on his right foot after having a scan.
His injury leaves Roy Hodgson short of options going into Sunday’s game, with Danny Welbeck doubtful with a knee injury and Jermain Defoe suffering with a minor back problem.
It turns out there is a bit more to playing like Germany than a round-neck collar and darker dye in the shorts. England changed their kit, but they didn’t change their spots.
A mediocre draw with the Republic of Ireland did little to calm the fears that this team may wish to make the most of the forthcoming visit to Brazil, lest it be the last for a while.
This was not about how England will fare in the Maracana Stadium on Sunday, but about what this group will bring to crucial matches with Montenegro and Poland at home, and Ukraine away, next season. There was little here to inspire confidence.
This level of performance would not win those encounters. It might not lose them, either. It didn’t lose Wednesday night.
Yet losing isn’t England’s problem. Not winning is. England can draw with the best of them. And the ordinary ones, too. They can draw with almost anybody in fact. They just can’t win. And Wednesday night illustrated why.
The old worries remain. Have England replaced John Terry and Rio Ferdinand? Not on the evidence of Ireland’s goal. Is this a team of match-winners? Not without Frank Lampard’s eye for goal.
There are precious few signs of advancement, little that implies Roy Hodgson is taking this team forward. The highlight of the 2012-13 season remains Jack Wilshere’s stellar performance in a 2-1 win over Brazil in February.
Without him, England look stale and predictable. There are odd moments of delight — a pass by Wayne Rooney, a flash of speed from Theo Walcott or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain — but these are random, like found objects.
The great leap forward that Hodgson has had 12 months to deliver is yet to happen. Ireland are hard to beat, but so are Montenegro, Poland and Ukraine. Only standard optimism suggests England will get the results they need next season.
Ireland are not the power of old, or even much of a banana skin, but they handled England with surprising assurance for much of the game, took the lead, and deserved their draw. Forget the guff about it meaning more to the visitors. It should not.
These are players competing for places in World Cup year, in a team that needs desperately to play its way into form. In the circumstances, this was tepid, insipid, uninspiring stuff.
Cloaked in a new strip, with a darker, almost black, blue trim, England’s look reminded one of a retro German kit, until the game started, that is. There was little of the flair or purpose shown in the all-German Champions League final played on this pitch four days earlier. Little of the application, either.
When Rooney gave up chasing an overhit pass late in the game, it seemed to sum up England’s malaise. The real Germany, meanwhile, were racing to a four-goal lead in Ecuador, without any of their Bayern Munich players.
You’re not fit to wear our shirts, they would have joked, had they seen this. Even the Germans can deliver a decent English football gag.
England saved their best chances until late, as Ireland tired. With six minutes to go, Oxlade-Chamberlain was through one on one, only for goalkeeper David Forde to save, and Walcott suffered similar frustration on the right. Misses in the same vein next season could be more than an irritation; and maybe the difference between boarding a flight to Brazil and watching the most anticipated World Cup of the modern era on a flat screen in HD. Like a schmuck.
Pre-match, it was considered good for England to play at Wembley without the pressure of World Cup qualification, particularly with so many important home games in the run-in next season. This plan lasted precisely 13 minutes until the Ireland goal
The concept of a no-pressure friendly only holds if England do as expected. Against the Republic of Ireland, a team with three starting players currently contracted to Championship clubs, this means a comfortable win for the home team.
Once Shane Long had put Ireland ahead, however, England were in a scrap.
It was a soft goal, one that does not reflect well on the brave new world in the heart of England’s defence. Ferdinand has retired and Hodgson seems determined to say goodbye to Terry, who may now be rethinking his withdrawal. But if the old guard were absent, so too were their replacements, when it mattered.
There was scant pressure on the ball in the middle, or on the right when it found its way to Seamus Coleman, but even this lapse could not excuse the disorder in the middle when his cross came in.
Phil Jagielka was nowhere to be seen, and Gary Cahill failed to get tight, leaving right back Glen Johnson as the main defender challenging Long. The West Bromwich Albion striker — signed by Hodgson — met it confidently and sent a header that looped out of the reach of Joe Hart.
Scottish referee William Collum, no doubt chosen for being more appreciative of a tussle between
players from British leagues, did not give a foul.
Whether a continental official would have been as lenient is another matter; the sight of Sturridge leaving the field on a stretcher suggests a sterner approach is preferable.
Never mind. It’s not as if Sunday’s opportunity to play Brazil in the Maracana Stadium will be the last.
Is it? — Mailonline.
Online Reporter