Evaluation Rashford, Rice, Alexander-Arnold and …



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England beat Belgium 2-1 at Wembley, but who impressed and who didn’t?

JORDAN PICKFORD
I had 77 quiet minutes. He conceded a penalty that had absolutely nothing to do with him and saved a meek effort from De Bruyne. He came out to hit a deep, bulging corner. Lost. He comfortably asked for and claimed a corner three minutes later. Raved. You will consider your evening a success.

TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD
The wait for one of England’s most talented players to produce a good performance for his country continues. Alexander-Arnold retains the same creative freedom he enjoys for Liverpool but without anything that comes close to the inventive brilliance that defines him at the club level. His passing accuracy (64.7%) was easily the lowest of any player for both sides, as his many risks resulted in almost no rewards. The only positive moment he was able to claim a role was Mount’s goal and even then Trippier saved his deep cross. Combined with a nonexistent impact on defense, the 21-year-old managed to be the worst of the 427 right-backs on the field despite playing the closest to that position of anybody.

KYLE WALKER
Get the vest from the back of your wardrobe, dust off that Atomic Kitten CD, and get ready to toss your drink into the air because it’s 2018 again, baby. It feels like a step aside to put Walker in third place, particularly considering that his international career was over. only six months ago. And there will be a game where your tendency to rely on rhythm to rescue any situation will result in montage hilarity. But he was actually pretty excellent on a defense that really needed him, helping to balance the balance of that battle against Lukaku in England’s favor when both Dier and Maguire worked hard. Should a 30-year-old right-back be our best central midfielder? Does it matter?

ERIC DIER
That was not pretty. Lukaku was in a certain mood in the first half, but Dier essentially submitted to the striker, exposing not only a lack of pace but also a deficit in game awareness and intelligence. Lukaku was on the wrong foot at a tight angle and therefore had no real chance to shoot or even cross, so his only option was to continue running and try to taunt the defender to make a tackle before putting his body in. in the way of the ball. Dier was too willing to cooperate and the slight push before lowering to the ground was enough to make the foul. He was an amateur. His positioning also opened an opportunity for Carrasco in the end. Managers love him, but it’s worth wondering if outfielder Pickford, excellent distribution that comes with at least one potentially fatal mistake, is someone England cannot improve upon.

HARRY MAGUIRE
One of the many reasons Manchester United tried to do without Lukaku was his lack of mobility. For 45 minutes, the captain of his former club, the most expensive defender in the history of the game, made him look like the bloody Billy Elliot. Maguire would drift out of position whenever he smelled a Belgium forward pass, but was often turned or missed with a simple ball that knocked him out of the game entirely due to his non-existent recovery pace. He was like a diligent firefighter but ultimately useless to England: he would rush to the scene of any puff of smoke before managing to light his own arm. His passing was at least very good, a first-half ball to Calvert-Lewin stood out in particular as it traveled more than five yards to its destination. Perhaps don’t build all your defense around it based on that, mind.

TRIPPIER KIERAN
At the same time, it is true that he should never play on the left for England, but he was also decent enough there against seemingly the best team in the world, even if that description is somewhat invalid when his coach is Roberto Martinez. Trippier essentially comprised the entire flank at times with Maguire behind him and Mount or Rashford drifting in the center ahead of him, but still managed to do well on defense and became a key attacking outlet later on. No player made more accurate crosses than his three. His assist for Mount’s deflected goal also deserved far more credit than he received. Just stop messing with him as a left back and move him to the right where no one has proven to be better.

RICE DECLAN
That first half was a big no. Belgium played around, over and over, Rice with consummate ease and offered almost nothing. But that second half was wonderful. He was more proactive than reactive, sensing when to push and when to sit. A late instance saw him intercept a pass from the Belgian defense before instantly recycling it and helping create an opportunity that Rashford almost took advantage of. That was him at his most effective: correctly positioned and conscious enough to simultaneously strangle one attack and bring another to life. The challenge now is to seize it, but it can no longer be said that he did not do it for England against an elite opposition. The containment midfielder stood his ground.

JORDAN HENDERSON
England’s best player in the first half, and by quite a margin. It says a lot about the selected team that a nominally reserved central midfielder was the source of most of the offensive inspiration for the hosts. There was a moment just before the two corners that led to him winning a very Latin penalty when Henderson injected a bit of urgency into a languid performance, tossing a ball for the first time around the corner and continuing his run into the area for try to shake. Belgium out of your comfort zone. His contribution after kickoff after Rashford’s goal was to block a Carrasco shot in a decent position, which rather summed up a display in which he laid more bases than anyone else for a professional and fighter victory. England as a whole looked great when leading, but only Henderson can claim to have been proud when back or level.

DOMINIC CALVERT-LEWIN
Even with little to no service, it is a real hassle. There were a couple of bright sparks that could have led to something else; he should have done better when Rashford returned his excellent move early in the second half, and did very well to win a first-half corner from Alderweireld that was quickly wasted. but this did nothing to promote or harm his prospects for England in reality. He won at least five more headshots than any other player and had four leading shots in the match, so he cannot be accused of wasting his opportunity at this level.

MOUNT MASON
I dont know. I really don’t know. Does a deflected goal justify a selection and define a complete performance? Mount went long periods without even touching the ball, but a lesser player could have let that hit his confidence. He still took good positions and ran search runs even when he looked like little more than a well-dressed outfield invader everyone was trying to ignore. He completed 14 passes and lost the same amount of the ball. But again, he made a goal. So have that, Jack Grealish.

MARCUS RASHFORD
He had 72 touches, which seems remarkably tall for an attacking player. But that sums up Rashford’s influence throughout as a player who put Belgium to the test more than most. There was something missing in his final product other than the penalty, which seemed slow when Calvert-Lewin released him behind defense before being caught quite easily, then missing just five minutes of full time. But yes, it was and is pretty good.

KALVIN PHILLIPS (replaces Henderson, 66)
The absolute definition of ‘late intro to shore up midfield – 6/10’.

HARRY KANE (replaces Calvert-Lewin, 66)
He missed a free header from a corner. He took one last chance that Rashford nearly scored. It’s nothing without Heung-min Son.

REECE JAMES (instead of Alexander-Arnold, 78)
He joined the right back after a late invite. He completed more tackles in 12 minutes than any teammate. Fair enough.

JADON SANCHO (ignition for Mount, 90)
It had two touches. Opta defined one as “failed”. He managed not to contravene government decisions during a pandemic.

Matt stead



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