Five Talking points from England’s 2-0 loss to Chile

Alexis Sanchez seems to have finally found his mojo

Ever since his move to Barcelona, the Chilean attacker had become quietly subdued. After lighting up the stage on fire in Italy, Sanchez was never quite able to do the same with Barcelona, up until this season at least. After getting used to Barcelona’s style and system, Sanchez has finally begun to show why Barcelona paid big money to sign him.

Against England, he continued his impressive start to his season, by scoring a brace and troubling the English backline throughout the game. Sanchez’s first was a header which just crept into the near post in the 7^th minute, after England failed to clear the danger. His second however, was a delight as he chipped it in, almost on the stroke of full time, leaving the goal keeper, stranded and with nothing to do.

Lallana impresses, whilst Rodriguez was largely non-existent

Before the game, Hodgson said that the Southampton pair of Rodriguez and Lallana will both feature at some point and earn their first England cap. True to his word, they both started the game and whilst Lallana showed just what he can do, Rodriguez would have been left wondering if he would get another cap under his belt on the evidence of his performance.

Lallana was in the thick of things, right from the start as he was responsible for the free kick from Jones produced the first save of the game. That set the tempo as the Saints skipper went onto enjoyed a good game in which his defensive contribution was noteworthy and there were also glimpses of some brilliant link up play with Rooney, as soon as the Manchester United forward came on. The only disappointment was his finishing which was far from great. Rodriguez on the other hand, had an afternoon to forget as he didn’t create too much in an attacking sense, and even restricted Baines’s forays forward and was at times a liability in defense.

Hart might yet be England’s No.1 for quite a while

Before the start of the game, there was talk that this was the moment that Fraser Foster has been waiting for, for quite a long time. After a string of disappointing performances for both club and country, Hart was finally dropped and in came Foster, who had been on the fringes of a call up, ever since his heroics against Barcelona for Celtic. But, the fact was that, aside from picking the ball out of the net twice, he didn’t have too much to do.

The Celtic shot stopper was a little nervous at the beginning and tentative with his kicking. Although he didn’t commit any major errors, he also didn’t do anything to cement his place in the lineup. The fact is that, the dearth of quality keepers means that Hart might yet be England’s No.1 for not just the World Cup, but for the foreseeable future as well.

England’s unbeaten run masked bigger problems

Although England currently sit 10^th in the latest FIFA rankings and came into this game with a 10-match unbeaten run, there were not many inside Wembley who expected England to come out of the game with too many positives. Chile, ranked two places below England, finished off England with two goals, on either end of the 90 minutes to go away with a victory, which ended England’s unbeaten run.

Roy Hodgson’s experimental side were put to the sword by an organized Chile outfit, who were effective and ensured that England didn’t create too many openings for themselves. The match was a fitting reminder that, England were far from the finished article and the unbeaten run was as a result of favorable fixtures rather than a team playing in tip-top shape. With barely a few days before their next fixture against Germany, Roy Hodgson certainly has a lot of things to ponder about.

Far from ideal preparation for their big-clash against Germany

After the defeat to Chile on Friday, Coach Hodgson called for a “sense of perspective” and said “I took a chance in the hope it would go our way. It didn’t. I have to accept that responsibility.” Although the side that took to the field against Chile was a largely make-shift and experimental one, one cannot deny the fact that this was a far from ideal preparation for their big match against Germany in a few days’ time.

Hart should be back in goal for that encounter, whilst Phil Jones is likely to miss out with a groin injury. After the game, Lampard admitted that “We didn’t need a reality check,” and went onto to add that “we are not on the moon, and we are not terrible. We are somewhere in the middle. But we’ve got another game against top-class opposition on Tuesday and we have to do better.” Hodgson will be hoping for just that, as he hopes to bounce back with a win against highly fancied Germany.