Rashford strikes again to end losing streak
Striker on target again to halt England’s run of defeats
MARCUS RASHFORD ensured England avoided the worst run of defeats in their history — and showed that there might just be life without Harry Kane. The Manchester United striker volleyed home from close-range as Gareth Southgate’s makeshift team laboured to a 1-0 victory over Switzerland in Leicester. England went into the friendly on the back of three straight losses and knew that another would set an unwanted record. But they recovered after a poor first half, thanks to Rashford’s 54th-minute strike. ‘You’ve got to dig in and get through the game,’ said Rashford, who also scored for Southgate’s side in the 2-1 Nations League defeat against Spain on Saturday. ‘It’s good to win.’
Friendlies, you will have been told, are all about the performance. This one wasn’t. This was about the win. Getting in front and holding that lead. ending a run of defeats that would have been the worst in the history of the national team, if switzerland had come out on top like spain, Belgium and Croatia before them.
Gareth southgate made good on his promise to involve many of those who had not featured against spain on saturday — that, after all, is what non-competitive fixtures are for: experimentation, experience.
Yet once a member of his first Xi, Marcus rashford, had got england’s noses in front after 54 minutes, the players southgate introduced to see out the game had a distinctly A-team feel.
On came Harry Kane for danny Welbeck, John stones for James Tarkowski, Jesse lingard for ruben loftus- Cheek, Jordan Henderson for Fabian delph, Kieran Trippier for Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The leicester locals hoping to see their boys promoted from the Under 21s, Ben Chilwell and demarai Gray, were kept waiting. Chilwell got on, but not until the 79th minute. This wasn’t about sentimentality. england had lost three games straight, their worst run in 30 years and only equalled six times across three centuries, and no manager wants that record around his neck — certainly not when the next two games are Croatia and spain away.
The country, the press box, the dressing-room, all are on southgate’s side — but a manager still needs an end product. Players, in particular, require evidence that sunlit uplands are ahead. They had that at the World Cup, with progress to the semi-finals — but the campaign ended on two defeats, and another to spain at the weekend.
Friendly or not, they needed to be shown southgate’s methods could win matches against good opposition. switzerland put six past iceland in their last competitive match. They are no mugs.
so rashford’s winner was a welcome one. A wild corner from the largely impressive danny rose was picked up by Kyle Walker deep on the right. He had time to as good as tee the ball up and strike it to the far post, where rashford had lost his man.
He met the ball on the volley from close range, leaving goalkeeper Yann sommer no chance. it was his second goal of this international break and one that confirms he is a rare thing: a player who looks better for england than for his club right now.
stones emerged with credit, too, for a John Terry-like block that prevented a swiss equaliser. Who knows what southgate said before sending him on, but it didn’t look as if the instructions were to take it easy and not sweat the result.
england were much improved in the second half, though, even before the cavalry arrived. All the opening 45 minutes proved was that, regardless of performance, southgate’s instincts on players is most usually right.
Jordan Pickford is much better than Jack Butland in goal; Tarkowski is behind at least four centre halves at this level, and one of those is a full-back, Walker; Henderson is a more reliable pivot than eric dier; loftus- Cheek needs games if he is to keep pace with the elite. rashford aside, there isn’t much below Kane.
This was a second- string england Xi against moreoe of a first- choice switzerland zerland and early on it showed. owed. Vladimir Petkovic’s ic’s team saw more of the ball and did d better things with it.
They hit a post as england looked nervous; they spread the play wide and made full use of f the pitch; they y limited england nd largely to set-piece iece action, although with uth gate’s
without many of southgate’s prime operatives, the impact was reduced.
On the field at half-time, an announcer who had been on the happy pills attempted to pick out england’s highlights. it became obvious rather early that he was reaching. The first clip featured local hero Harry Maguire — erroneously called ‘John’ — receiving the ball from Butland and giving it straight back. That Butland then gave a powderpuff pass to Tarkowski who was caught in possession by Xherdan shaqiri, his low shot striking a post, rather spoiled the wonder of this moment. seconds earlier, Butland had played an even worse pass across his goal as nerves and Championship sChampionshipp footballootba showed. He didn’t l look the same player that had been tipptipped to displace JoJoe Hart a year agago. His team, sstoke, are struggling gstruggling in tier two, and Butland is struggling with them. His nervousness nnervousness exposed the ththeory that, if the PrPremier league ttalental pool is shallshallow, southgate can alwaysalw look to the league bbelow. The gap between the Championship and international football — even international friendlies — is immense. The same applies to the undercooked loftus-Cheek. it took him until the 37th minute to feature in a move of significance and it ended with rose forcing a save from goalkeeper sommer. This seemed to give the Chelsea man a fillip and he finished the half strongly. early on the game
had unfolded around him, much as this season has, well down the pecking order under Maurizio sarri.
in the 31st minute, Walker and tarkowski were found wanting and Mario Gavranovic skipped through, Butland saving at his feet. soon after, a shot by ricardo rodriguez appeared to be slightly misjudged, Butland at first shaping as if to watch it go wide, before scrambling slightly when it looked as if it wouldn’t. Happily, his initial instincts were correct.
the rose shot aside, England’s best chances came as usual from set pieces. in the fifth minute, a corner from rose picked out Welbeck and he should have done better with his header, cut out on the way to goal. After 17 minutes, it was a similar story from a free-kick by Alexander-Arnold, met by Dier with a stooping header steered wide.
By the end it was good news all round, though. England were not even bottom of their UEFA Nations league group any more, spain having beaten Croatia 6-0. lessens the impact of the 2-1 defeat — doesn’t reflect so well on losing to Croatia at the World Cup.
Hey ho, southgate will know where he stands soon and, for now at least, a win is a win.