THE SHARPE END: England’s drab performance against Malta bores fans into making paper planes and Trent Alexander-Arnold shines
- Gareth Southgate’s 90th game in charge was against the same team as his debut
- England bored fans with a poor performance, but still came away with a 2-0 win
- Southgate’s loyalty to his players is an issue and a weakness – It’s All Coming Up
This was supposed to be the game that showed how far England had come.
Gareth Southgate’s 90th game in charge, against the same opponents and inside the same stadium as his first in October 2016.
Back then it was a front line of Jesse Lingard, Daniel Sturridge and Theo Walcott that faced Malta, with a 30-year-old Wayne Rooney in midfield.
Now, they’re European finalists, World Cup semi-finalists with a squad that boasts some of the most exciting talent in world football.
Yet while both, in the end, finished 2-0 to England, this was a performance so flat that fans entertained themselves making paper planes.
Gareth Southgate watches on as his England side manage to get past Malta 2-0 on Friday night
Jesse Lingard made up part of the front three Gareth Southgate selected for his debut game in charge
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Comparison of both of Gareth Southgate’s games vs Malta
They also greeted the news of six minutes stoppage time with groans that suggested they’d rather not miss the next Tube.
You can hardly blame them.
England made fewer passes than that first game in 2016, created fewer chances, had fewer shots, and did much less in the final third with better players.
For a team that has, let’s be fair, come a long way under Southgate, they did not show it.
Trent Alexander-Arnolds passes during the game vs Malta
No Jude but Trent stars
It was clear how much England missed the injured Jude Bellingham: his ability to get on the ball, drive forward, find space, make runs into the box, score goals and set them up.
In his absence, it was Trent Alexander-Arnold who dictated play from midfield.
He does it well for Liverpool and he did it excellently at Wembley too.
Yet in all the games he’s played in midfield for Southgate, Bellingham has not featured.
It will be interesting to see how Southgate plans to fit both thrilling talents into his midfield.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was deployed as a midfielder against Malta by Gareth Southgate
Jude Bellingham did not feature vs Malta as he has returned to Madrid with a shoulder injury
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