What a start! But there are still ways to improve this exciting England side
I KNOW some people have taken the stance that Panama are more famous for their hats than their football since England thumped them on Sunday.
That we shouldn’t be getting too carried away. But we did everything well against Panama and the glass in front of me isn’t just half-full, it’s all but brimming on the back of that performance. Panama, remember, beat and drew with Costa Rica in qualifying, and if England had pumped them 6-1 instead we’d have been saying, “Well, actually, we’re not far from being the real deal”. So we can afford ourselves a little bit of excitement and forgive the couple of lapses, which were in concentration more than ability. Against the better teams the Three Lions will face from here I’d expect them to be dealt with. The one thing which concerns me ahead of the Belgium game – and this may sound a tad odd after seeing Jesse Lingard score a worldie – is the fact our attacking midfielders aren’t getting on the half-turn as much as I’d like. Think Paul Gascoigne at his best, when he’d pick the ball up in his own half and get three opponents to commit by turning sharply and running at their defence. He was a master at that and, even though we scored six, I didn’t see enough of it from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Raheem Sterling against Panama, or Sterling and Dele Alli in the win against Tunisia.
When we come up against Roberto Martinez’s men on Thursday, or the likes of France, Brazil and Colombia later in the competition – teams who will be expected to have as much, if not more, of the ball than us – we’re going to have to do that better.
I’d also like to see our full-backs getting into even more good crossing positions than they have been doing, I want to be greedy on that front.
Kieran Trippier has been very good, one of the best full-backs at the World Cup defensively and offensively.
But I want to see him and Trent Alexander-Arnold, if or when he gets his chance, getting to the byline more down the right, and Ashley Young and Danny Rose upping it significantly on the other side.
I want to see more width and five or six more crosses on the run during games to really pin opponents back.
I’d probably give Alexander-Arnold a run against Belgium and play Jamie Vardy at the expense of Harry Kane, with Marcus Rashford in for Sterling.
And Eric Dier would come in for Jordan Henderson for a bit of game-time as well, if only so they aren’t completely cold if called upon in the knockout stages.
Keeping those who have started fresh and those who haven’t started happy, as well as maintaining the winning momentum, will be a tough balancing act for Gareth Southgate.
But whichever way he plays it, his boys will head into the knockout phase brimming with confidence.