England's drab display against Andorra shows football's real problem

Yahoo

a day ago

After a game that was so dismally lacking in spark, Thomas Tuchel had one message he clearly wanted to repeat, doing so in three different interviews: 'We were playing with fire.'
It says much that a Champions League-winning manager genuinely thought there was a chance that England might slip up to Andorra. Another comment after this dreadful 1-0 win said even more.
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Tuchel was so alarmed by England's 'attitude' in the last 30 minutes of this match that he plans a meeting on Sunday to let the squad 'know what we want from them'. That is what might make an otherwise completely forgettable game somewhat significant. Tuchel was furious.
And yet, through all of this, it was difficult not to think back to words the England manager said in March: 'The Fifa June window is I think debatable if it makes sense.'
Tuchel was at the time talking about how some players won't have played a game for four weeks but, given the amount of discussion about the calendar right now, it's hard not to put that into a wider context. At Espanyol's new stadium, England looked like what they are: a group of elite-league players who have had long seasons, and need a break.
Some of them instead have to go to the Club World Cup. They played as if they wanted to be anywhere but here.
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And that is what most aggravated Tuchel. It was why he was completely unwilling to reassert his reservations about the June window. 'No excuses,' he said. 'The window is the window.'
In other words, they can all have arguments about what this international break should be but that doesn't mean they should allow themselves to drop off in the way they did in the last half-hour.
Tuchel simply said he didn't like it. 'I think we lacked the seriousness and the urgency that is needed in a World Cup qualifier. I think we played with fire. I didn't like the attitude in the end. I didn't like the body language. It was not what the occasion needed.'
Tuchel instead likened it to an FA Cup game, where the favourite fails to realise there is a real risk of an upset. Andorra's Guillaume Lopez even caused a late scare.
Harry Kane's 72nd international goal spares England's blushes (Reuters)
'Matches like this can become awkward when you don't score or you don't score a second goal,' Tuchel said. 'It can be stuck. Even then it's more necessary to not get frustrated, to not let your energy drop, to do the little things right. I had the feeling after 25 minutes that it becomes like we are frustrated with the little things, then everybody tried a little bit different than we tried in the first 25. It looked slower and slower and slower.
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'There were no more movements in the last third to attack the box. Everyone wanted the ball then into the foot, no more speeding up the game with runs. You need runs, you need counter-movements, you need nonstop movement. If you don't invest, then it becomes suddenly a stuck game and you get frustrated.
'I think in the end, we played with fire, honestly. I felt it almost like in a cup game where the favourite does not smell the danger. I didn't feel a team that was aware it was only 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier.'
It's actually a perfect summation of these types of games, that aptly explains the psychology of such occasions. What Tuchel described was very visible, right up to players forcing dribbles or long shots. There was that growing angst about England.
In the end, it was just a natural lack of quality from a side ranked 173rd in the world that settled the game. That's so low it's well over 100 places more than Fifa's absurd World Cup expansion.
Noni Madueke provides the assist for Kane and has a chance of his own (Getty Images)
Either way, Curtis Jones played the ball through, Harry Kane finally got inside, the initial effort was diverted – Andorra's Iker did have a good game – and Noni Madueke diverted it back for the captain. It was Kane's 72nd goal for England, putting him joint 15th in the overall international rankings. Madueke himself missed a good late chance for a second, but that was pretty much it.
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England had created so little. Even Tuchel remarked how they 'created an xG of three and underperformed with one goal, which is very unusual in a match like this where you usually over-perform an xG'.
The manager had said before the game that he was almost seeing this as a training exercise to prepare for low blocks. Except, England weren't playing with the necessary edge, and no one plays a block as low as Andorra. There were long periods when they had five players in their own six-yard box. That ensured Dan Burn was on the ball so much that it was hard not to wonder if Cole Palmer would be better served in that position. England might have benefited from some searching balls.
As it was, they toiled to find a way through. Andorra had a well-executed tactical plan, and the game was clearly well worth it for Andorra. They could be proud of this, and Tuchel praised them for their resilience and how 'well drilled' they were.
'It is the third time we have played a deep block, the third time we have played a 5-4-1 from the opponent, and we struggled heavily in the ending of the first and second halves to create, to show the quality in one-on-ones, to create overloads and decisive situations for us.'
Kane says the long season has resulted in some tired legs (PA)
From all of that, you could say England ultimately won and this game barely matters. Gareth Southgate's side used to rack up heavy scores in such matches only for it to have no bearing on actual tournaments. It's like a different level of football.
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Except, there was a wider significance. Tuchel well knows that successful sides can't just switch it on and off like that. Spain 2008-12 weren't like that. Germany 2014 weren't like that. What made them successful was the absolutely punishing standards, and the expectation that they would fully execute their great quality in all moments. They acted as if any drop-off would be fatal.
That is what Tuchel demands.
'We got away with a win,' he concluded. 'I think we still deserved the win and we've got three wins and three clean sheets. OK, we will not stop encouraging them and make clear after we have a proper look at the match what we want from them.'
It's not about a 1-0 against Andorra. It's about the standards of champions.