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It’s amazing what a difference a couple of yards can make. With that amount of room for 45 minutes of this game, Belgian Romelu Lukaku appeared to be the kind of center forward he never was during his Premier League days.
Lukaku, now from Inter Milan, was a bully with a touch of velvet. Everything he did worked. He won and converted a penalty. He placed his teammates with his heels back, received the ball with his back to the goal and either hit his teammates or turned around and headed for goal
It was an imperious half of Lukaku’s football, before Manchester United, Everton and Chelsea. Had it continued, it is likely that Belgium would have won, rather than lost, this game. But it did not continue because it was not allowed.
At halftime, no doubt encouraged by their coach, the three English centrals changed their focus. They started bringing that yard or two closer to Lukaku, they didn’t give him time to do everything he wanted. They made him hurry, they made him think. It was a crucial change in a match from which England looked good at one stage, but recovered to such an extent that the second half passed.
It is true that England needed some fortune with their goals to come out of here with three points. Half a shame and a detour. But against the number one ranked team in the world, this was a performance that improved tremendously as it progressed and the way the game slowly turned around will not have been lost to manager Gareth Southgate as he seeks to identify players who can answer when important questions are asked.
To be sure, England’s central defenders were rotten for the first half hour or more. Perhaps Southgate shouldn’t have been surprised.
One of them, Kyle Walker, said after the last World Cup that he really didn’t like playing in that position. Another, Eric Dier, recently won his battle at Tottenham to be recognized as a center midfielder rather than a midfielder, and the latest, Harry Maguire, has had such a difficult start to the season on and off the pitch for Manchester United. It was a surprise to see him play here instead of someone like Michael Keane or Conor Coady, who did so well against Wales last Thursday.
However, three against one shouldn’t have been a fair fight. The three of them should have been able to deal with Lukaku. They really should.
The Belgian is, after all, the same player he was during those years in England. Fast, strong and capable of finishing when the ball is played in front of him but far from being unstoppable. Lukaku’s great weakness was that he was always easy to read; He was rarely a player who surprised anyone. Yet here at Wembley, the 27-year-old was given all the time he wanted to dictate the way the game was played.
With any kind of fortune or better ending, Belgium could have been out of sight early. It is reasonable to say that this was not, for example, the best night that visiting striker Yannick Carrasco has had. The Atlético de Madrid player was a persistent and intelligent danger but failed to score. When he did, early in the game, he was ruled offside.
However, the fact that England prevailed was due to their own admirable improvement and that bodes well. In the second period, the three from England played higher up the field and in doing so made Lukaku think more when he had the ball or was about to join the play. No center forward in the world has scored regularly when played head-on and this was the situation Lukaku was in when England prevailed.
Confidence is everything in the sport and as this game progressed, the collective belief grew at the bottom line of England. It was, indeed, a rare defensive pick for Southgate. For example, Jordan Pickford was extremely fortunate to regain his spot from Nick Pope in goal.
But the England manager seems determined to try every possible combination before deciding on his team for the European Championship next summer.
It still feels like Liverpool’s Maguire and Joe Gomez are his strongest partner and if they are going to be three central defenders from now on, then Keane’s improved form at Everton might put him on pole for last place.
Whoever the staff are, England will have to be braver, prettier and more active throughout the game than they were here. Half a game, half a performance, will only get the job done half the time.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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