When Iceland beat Austria in the final group stage match, everybody claimed it was England good fortune, as this would be their easiest route to the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2016. Little did they know that the Nordic minnows had other plans. Iceland pulled off one of the most staggering results in the history of European football by knocking England out of the Euros, thanks to goals from Ragnar Sigurdsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson. For a country playing in its first major tournament, qualifying for the championships itself was hailed as an achievement, let alone the present success that has underlined Iceland's reputation as a reckoning force in world football. The Icelanders came from behind to win 2-1 and set up a quarter-final tie against host nation and favorites France.
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England’s exit at the Euros seems to be poetically in sync with Britain’s exit from the EU. For a country which boasts of a star-studded football team and is home to the richest sports league in the world, the Three Lions didn’t replicate the promise they displayed during the qualifying rounds which saw them finish unbeaten and on top of the group. Take nothing away from the Icelanders. They played their hearts out and defeated England with a powerful display of resilience and tactics. But, let’s look at what went wrong for the English team, who were pipped to be one of the contenders to win the championships.
1. Keeper woes
England have faced eight shots on target throughout the tournament and let in four of them, leading to the question – why are English goalkeepers pathologically unable to keep goals out? As things panned out, it was Joe Hart’s poor keeping that allowed the ball to crawl past him, handing Iceland the lead. The Manchester City keeper did pull off a great save towards the end, ensuring the loss remained by just the one goal, but that is little consolation given his poor show.
Hart has been one of the best keepers in recent times in Europe, but he had a very average season in the league, which also saw him being dropped to the bench. Was he the best option available to Roy Hodgson? In terms of experience and matches under the belt, it certainly looked like the easy option. With just 6 international appearances, picking Fraser Forster over Joe Hart would have instantly raised eyebrows. With many waiting to line him up first as the scapegoat, in case things went wrong, Hodgson had little choice but to go with an inconsistent Hart. But now his spot with the national team comes under scrutiny after letting in two goals, one of Gareth Bale’s free-kick against Wales and another today, of Sigthorsson, both of which should have been saved. Hart has enjoyed long spells without competition as the England number one, but it’s time to reevaluate and offer Forster, who had a brilliant season with Southampton, his shot as England’s shot stopper.
2. Defensive loopholes
Iceland showed up to the tournament attracting no one’s attention. So when they qualified unbeaten for the knock-out rounds, people took notice. Surprisingly, their stats didn’t line up accordingly. They had the lowest number of shots and lowest pass completion rate of any of the teams alive in the tournament. With a mere 35% of possession in the first three games, their strategy was evident – sit tight, defend and break on the counter.
Before the run up to this tie, England coach Roy Hodgson had underlined Aron Gunnarsson’s long throws as a weapon and something England seemed to have worked on in training. So it was criminal for them to not just fail to defend the long throw, but also not attack it enough leaving room for a flick on to reach unmarked Icelandic defender Ragnar Sigurdsson. Heading into the tournament, Chris Smalling, and Gary Cahill were coming off of strong performances in the middle of an average season, for their respective clubs. To think of them as a stellar duo at the back would not be an overestimate. But when Iceland scored a Spain like tiki-taka goal, you have to question the defenders and look at their positioning. But full marks to Iceland for making England’s top defenders look like a bunch of sitting ducks. It’s not the first time in this tournament that the duo have been out of position or slow to react. If England needs to get past the horror of round of 16, it needs to strengthen the defensive line and the keeper. No amount of attacking options will help you if your defense is letting in soft goals from time to time.
3. Hodgson’s tactical experiments
Hodgson’s biggest problem was that his squad for the qualifiers was a little different from the one he picked for the tournament. For starters, Danny Welbeck, Theo Walcott, Phil Jagielka, Andros Townsend and Oxlade-Chamberlain who featured in the qualifiers were all left behind owing to bad form or injury. The rise of Deli Alli, Marcus Rashford, and Jamie Vardy meant he had to include all three in the squad and alter his attacking force which already featured Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane, and Daniel Sturridge. From the outside, it seemed like the England coach had not figured out his perfect starting eleven. For someone at the helm for the national team for two major tournaments (World cup in Brazil and Euros in France), it’s a shame that his team ran around the pitch most times like headless chickens.
Besides providing an assist with a penalty against Iceland, Raheem Sterling was a lost puppy, to say the least. For the entirety of the tournament, Roy Hodgson’s experiments with the left flank haven’t proved fruitful. Sterling and Adam Lallana have been inconsistent leaving many to ask – “Why didn’t Jamie Vardy start?”
For a team coming unbeaten from the qualifiers, you would expect the manager to have a prescription for tactical success. Fielding Deli Alli in a deeper role instead of a number 10 position is a clear waste of talent. Alli has time and again proved to be great up front in an attacking midfield position, as validated by his performances for Tottenham in the Premier League. Hodgson’s infamous six changes against Slovakia in the final group match proved too costly, resulting in a draw and finishing second behind Wales. The only gamble which seemed to pay off was Wayne Rooney in midfield, until his disastrous performance in the loss to Iceland which saw him achieve the distinction of having most number of misplaced passes (11) in the tournament thus far.
The European championship is no place to gamble with your midfield and attacking force. Unfortunately, the England manager learned it the hard way, and has resigned from his post.
4. Will the real Harry Kane please stand up?
The Premier League’s top goal scorer for the 2015-16 season was not just out of form, but painful to watch on screen. In a tournament where he will be remembered for his infamous corner-kick against Russia, Kane, at best resembled a defender pushed up front to provide some physical presence and number in the attacking third. The Tottenham striker looked well short of his usual goal scoring self throughout the tournament and summed up England’s performance with a pretty diabolical (Ronaldo-esque) free kick midway through the second half. How much Tottenham’s collapse at the end of the season or fatigue affected him mentally, only he would know. But his performances echo the frustration of Vardy’s absence from the starting eleven. Vardy, a newly crowned champion and in blistering form found himself limited to cameo roles with the exception of the game against Slovakia. In what was a disgraceful exit, Kane stands out as one of the duds of the tournament.
An early exit is becoming somewhat of a tradition, one that English football fans aren’t proud of. The loss to Iceland seems to be a nadir in terms of sporting losses, bringing back memories of the 1-0 loss to the USA in 1950 World Cup. One can only imagine why a bunch of talented players cannot put together the same performance that they do for their respective clubs. With the World Cup in Russia just two years away, England need to find the right manager who can bring the best out of these players in a short duration.
