Five things from England 2-1 Wales: Lack of quality on show from both sides

Daniel Sturridge’s goal doesn’t mask the deficiencies with England

Congratulations to England for not giving up when it seemed they had defeated themselves again. Congratulations, too, to Daniel Sturridge for staying fit and for using a clever finish with just a few seconds remaining. They managed to eventually make their domination tell, and they celebrated with relief, more than belief. At least they should have. They left it late, and they just need the points against an extremely limited Slovakia side to be sure of qualification. On this evidence, they might well do it. But realistically, this is a Welsh side that, apart from Bale, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen and Ashley Williams, has hardly any player of real quality. Wales were contained for most of the match, but ambitious when they were given the room to be. England were barely good enough, but managed to make the most of their squad advantage.

Bale is struggling to make an impact throughout games

Gareth Bale has been vital for Wales. His two goals from free kicks have given his side the lead, twice. But he has been relatively quiet for a man of his talents. It is hard to say why this is, but there are a couple of potential explanations. The most obvious is that after a season when he competed La Liga, chasing Barcelona almost until the end, and then kept up his intensity to the Champions League final, and also was at the heart of Wales’ qualification attempt, that he is simply exhausted. He will not be the only player on show this summer who cannot match the level of their performances for their club through sheer tiredness. The other is that after spending so long at Real Madrid, he is increasingly accustomed to being part of a generally excellent team, and not being the focal point of a side. This seems less likely given his intervention in qualifying with Wales, but neither is impossible. Regardless, with potentially just a single game left, the same problem faces Bale as it does his peers of Neymar, Luis Suarez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi - and that is to play like a superstar when surrounded by mediocrity.

England lack the basics to go far at Euro 2016

England had 70% possession in the first half. They dominated the game in terms of keeping the ball, and regularly took the ball close to the opposition’s goal. In so many ways, that is useful. When England fail to pass it to one another quickly, and lack the control to shift it quickly from one another without it bouncing off each other’s shins, there can be no surprise. The English disease, in football at least, is a lack of the rudimentary skills needed for football. Passing, controlling and looking up at one another are all things that should be learned by the time the players take their GCSEs. In England, they neglect to get around to it, and instead choose on the basis of, well, it’s hard to know exactly.

The blame for the rotten first half performance should be with Hodgson. Not a single change was made from the starting eleven against Russia, but there wasn’t anything especially obvious to do before the game because the squad taken to the Euros is so staid, and the squad developed by Hodgson over the qualification period is able to do little more than exploit opposition incompetence.

To his credit, Hodgson did intervene at half-time and introduce Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Vardy, and it was Vardy who equalised. But apart from that, the performance barely changed. Lots of the ball, territorial dominance, but nothing to match the stature of some of the players. Against Slovakia, expect little different again. If Hodgson remains in charge next season, we can expect the same thing again, too, with a numbing sense of inevitability.

Familiar failings for Hart

There are very few people blessed with the gift of ambidexterity. It’s much use, in truth. You might be able to write your essays in exams a little quicker and more legibly, should you break your wrist. And that is about it. However, for goalkeepers, it isn’t expected that you’re as good on your weak side as you are as your dominant side, it is still necessary that you can narrow the gap between the two. Unfortunately for Joe Hart, he is close to incapable on his left side. Should the opposition play England or Manchester City, the entire training session before the match, and any tactical decisions in the run-up, should be limited solely to encouraging players to shoot to Hart’s left. He simply cannot do it. For a man who is so committed to being conspicuously intense, he is wildly relaxed about watching goal after goal after goal fly past him on his left. He is not the first English player to be undone by hubris but, smiling before Gareth Bale attempted his free kick, the most obvious one in the match against Wales.

French police need to change their tactics too

Before the match in Lens, the French police showed their usual, effective policing tactics of throwing tear gas and charging fans who had thrown flares and and bangers. They used pepper spray too, as Russian fans in the crowd also clashed with other fans. Of course, any English, Welsh or Russian fans who indulged in non-consensual violence should be stopped and arrested, but it has yet to become clear over the last week how charging fans, smacking them with batons and lobbing tear gas at them indiscriminately has helped in any meaningful way. There is one game left, perhaps, for England and Wales fans, and probably for the Russians, too. It will probably come because of a lack of points, but could well be because UEFA lose their patience with hooligans. Fair enough. However, the French police are in the country for the foreseeable future, it would be nice if they could wise up quicker than the fans.