England survives Tunisia: What we learned from the match
England beat Tunisia 2-1 in their first game at the 2018 World Cup, thanks to two goals from Harry Kane. Here are three things we learned from the match.
Well that was close. England got their World Cup campaign underway by beating Tunisia 2-1. Harry Kane scored a brace, but the winner didn’t arrive until the 92nd minute. It was a game of two halves, in that England were brilliant in the first half but struggled after the break; Tunisia were defending for the majority of the game, and offered very little going forward in either half. What have we learned from the match?
England are a good team
This might seem an odd conclusion to draw from a match where England needed an injury time goal to see off a tough but limited Tunisia side. But for most of the first half, Gareth Southgate’s team played some fabulous soccer. Had they replicated that in the second half, I’d be calling them a great team.
As it was, they did struggle to break Tunisia down as the match wore on (though, lest we forget, they are the highest rated African side in the FIFA rankings). England had some fabulous opportunities in the opening 45 minutes though, and could’ve put the match to bed.
At the half way point, their shots had been worth 2.33 expected goals. That’s more than any other side has managed in a whole match at this World Cup. Kane’s opening goal was a massive value chance, but that was followed by similarly high quality opportunities for Jesse Lingard and John Stones.
With Kane’s winner, England amassed four clear-cut chances, which again is the most to date at this World Cup. You could argue Tunisia aren’t very good, and that’s fair, but if you can create that when a team’s main aim is to stop you and rarely attack themselves, then four decent opportunities shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Kane’s on fire, but England are goal-shy otherwise
Danny Welbeck’s position of being the highest international goal scorer in the squad is not going to last much longer. With his brace here, Kane moved to 15 England goals, and just one behind Welbeck.
The Tottenham star’s recent international record is stunning. He has made eight appearances in the Gareth Southgate era, scoring in seven of them and amassing 10 goals overall. Add in his assist against Malta, and Kane has directly contributed to an England goal every 64 minutes he has played under the current manager. A stunning record, and no mistake.
But can or should England rely so heavily on him? It’s good it appears they can, but they will need goals from elsewhere if they are to progress deeply into this World Cup.
Jesse Lingard had four shots, and really should’ve scored, but Raheem Sterling didn’t have any. Well, he put one wide when he should’ve found the net, but the assistant referee’s offside call meant it didn’t count. The ticker moves on to 21 international games without a goal for Sterling, which is absurd.
Even allowing for his relatively slow start, Sterling has scored once roughly every three games for Manchester City. England may be good, but they’re not City yet, believe it or not. However, Sterling should still score more often for the Three Lions, but it rarely looks like happening.
As England relied mainly on set pieces in this match, John Stones and Harry Maguire each had as many shots as Kane did. More will definitely be needed from their other attackers at the business end of the World Cup.
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Jordan Henderson the quarterback?
The Liverpool skipper is a divisive figure for his club, and that pattern follows him when on England duty too. Southgate presumably gave him the nod over Eric Dier thanks to his better range of passing. Assuming that was the case, the decision paid off handsomely.
Henderson completed six of his seven long passes, and two of them found team mates in the Tunisia box. As England only completed 13 passes in the opposition penalty area in total, and Kane (none) and Sterling (one) completed fewer between them, Henderson’s efforts are not to be underrated.
His fabulous passing is evident on his dashboard on the site Twelve, and he may have recorded more excellent passes had his colleagues displayed better movement. That’s hypothetical of course, but Henderson was clearly gesturing for the wide players to run into channels so he could attempt to pick them out. Based on what he displayed against Tunisia, he probably would have too.
He will play against Panama in the next match, but it will be fascinating to see what happens thereafter. Will Southgate be bold enough to keep him in for the match with Belgium? On the evidence of this match, he definitely should.