Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HARRY HOUDINI
England 1 Slovenia 0
THIS was supposed to be the glorious Wembley send off.
A big morale-boosting win to book England’s place at the World Cup. Slovenia were to be the sacrificial lambs, easy pickings.
But, if we ever needed reminding, this is England. They qualified despite an awful performance, blushes spared by Harry Kane in injury time.
Boss Gareth Southgate raised his arms in delight when Kane struck, probably more out of relief than celebration. It certainly was not a night to savour.
It can be downright painful to watch England. The whole evening was flat, a flat performance, the fans were flat, with the biggest cheers coming when paper planes were thrown from the stands.
The players went onto the pitch at the final whistle to try to soak up the applause for reaching the World Cup. The stadium was virtually empty by then, the fans had seen enough.
It really was that bad. The first half was awful, second half marginally less so. And if it had not been for a heroic Joe Hart block late on, it could have been a whole lot worse.
Rather worryingly, Southgate did not seem to know how to change things on the pitch. Or maybe he did not have the options to make a difference from the bench.
The lack of quality was frightening,
Slovenia playmaker
Josip Ilicic comfortably the best technical player on the pitch, picking passes none of England’s players could seem to find.
England have deficiencies all over the pitch and the fact they were highlighted by a team ranked 55th in the world will not do much for optimism ahead of Russia next summer.
Dele Alli was suspended, Adam Lallana and Danny Rose injured, but no one can say the Three Lions are missing vast numbers of players from their first-choice starting eleven.
And that is a major concern because, while England remain unbeaten in 38 qualifying matches, if they struggle against Slovenia then what chance against the world’s best?
Eric Dier was given a chasing in midfield, Jordan Henderson looked lost and even Kane’s excellent form seems to dip as soon as he pulls on an England shirt. The same can be said for a few others. Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker have been electric for Manchester City this season, but were both way below that level.
Alex Oxlade-chamberlain had a wretched night on the right wing, his crisis of confidence at Liverpool hovering over him like a dark cloud.
There were very few who could be excused. Kane shot from distance, Marcus Rashford tried hard and was England’s liveliest player in the first half. Sterling got much better after Oxladechamberlain went off and the space opened up.
But England were slow, sluggish and made life difficult for themselves. They took a long time to get going when they should have torn into Slovenia from the start.
Kane’s long-range efforts flew over. Gary Cahill (left) flicked wide at a corner and Henderson had the best effort in the first half but his curling shot was brilliantly saved by Slovenia’s Atletico Madrid keeper Jan Oblak.
England needed to move up a gear, but could not seem to find it. Rashford wasted a good opening after Sterling put him through. Sterling then had an effort cleared off the line by Bostjan Cesar.
England’s biggest escape came in the 83rd minute when Hart raced out to block from Slovenia substitute Tim Matavz. Shortly afterwards, Hart was named the sponsors’ man of the match. That said it all.
Four minutes into injury time England finally found a way through.
Walker’s right wing cross found Kane, who messily deflected the ball past Oblak. Everyone celebrated but it did not feel like much of a party.