Five Talking points from the World Cup qualifiers

England look extremely light-weight up front

England’s Danny Welbeck gets yellow carded against Moldova

With the benefit of hindsight, a few things are certainly easy to say. After an easy win over group minnows Moldova, the England attack looks wafer thin. Especially considering the fact that Welbeck’s booking means that he is suspended for England’s key game in Kiev against Ukraine. Add to this, an already long treatment table, which includes Wayne Rooney, Andy Carroll and Daniel Sturridge, it looks like Rickie Lambert, who just made his international debut, is the only real striker on the books, apart from J Defoe.

Whilst Welbeck’s booking and subsequent ban certainly overshadowed a relatively easy win over Moldova, it begs the question why he was playing in the first place. Particularly given the fact that they had a key game against Ukraine coming up and they were aware of the fact that Welbeck was already on a booking. Whilst only time will tell whether Hodgson did the right thing by playing Welbeck, England’s attacking options certainly look extremely light indeed.