England may prove harder to watch than beat

An exquisite first-half finish from Danny Welbeck and a second clean sheet in as many outings under Roy Hodgson apart, there was little to commend a largely sterile final warm-up for the Three Lions ahead of Wednesday’s departure for central Europe.

England were way too predictable against a Belgium outfit who not only bossed possession but also had six times as many efforts on target as their hosts.

They were the very antithesis of a visiting side, seemingly capable of slickly switching formation and personnel at will.

Where Marc Wilmots’s men wove patterns and switched play with the swoosh of a boot, England largely played in straight lines and it was only the second-half introduction of Wayne Rooney, the one player who refuses to be shackled by the straitjacket of a traditional 4-4-2 formation, that brought any form of fluidity to the home ranks.

However, with the Manchester United striker unavailable for the first two group games in Ukraine due to suspension, it is doubtful either France manager Laurent Blanc or his Swedish counterpart, Erik Hamren will be losing too much sleep during the final few nights ahead of the Championships.

Of course, tournament football is a very different concern to friendly fire.

For one, the latter does not have the intensity that comes with needing to secure sufficient points to qualify for the knockout stage.

Nor is there the sense of desperation on the part of the opposition to rescue some form of reward when behind, especially when, in the case of Belgium, their players’ next move once the Wembley assignment had been completed involved heading for the beach after failing to qualify for Euro 2012.

That said, there was a distinct lack of the passion and purpose that the nation’s football fans wanted to accompany the inevitable pomp and pageantry of Diamond Jubilee weekend.

After a second dour 1-0 win in as many games under the new manager, the suspicion is that the Three Lions are going to be harder to watch than beat this summer.

Certainly, there can have been few send-offs as low-key as that afforded England on Saturday evening with even the squad’s post-match lap of honour being conducted in front of more visiting Belgians than home supporters as the Three Lions fans headed for the exits.

Such can be the difficulties involved in getting away from a log-jammed Wembley after big games, a desire to leave either a couple of minutes before the end or bang on the final whistle is understandable.

But, even so, the banks of empty seats that met Hodgson’s players as they traipsed to all four corners of the national stadium seemed to sum up neatly where the nation is at with its football team right now.

Not quite disillusioned, but all the same not quite believing that good times are waiting just around the corner.

During the match itself, such had been the paucity of England’s play that the 85,091 crowd had spent long periods providing their own entertainment.

At first, this involved a Mexican wave that managed several circuits of the stadium before, mercifully, petering out to be replaced by a fresh attempt on behalf of supporters to alleviate the boredom.

This involved an impromptu contest to try to reach the pitch with a succession of paper aeroplanes created from the red and white cards that had been laid out on every seat ahead of kick-off to create a St George’s cross for the benefit of the television cameras.

As paper missiles of contrasting quality rained down from all three tiers, the sight of one getting as far as the touchline or, even better, the pitch itself was enough to elicit a huge cheer.

By the time the match had reached the half-hour mark, it seemed these roars of approval might be the only ones Wembley heard all evening.

Thankfully, all that changed nine minutes before the interval courtesy of a fine passage of play that began and ended with Welbeck.

First, the Manchester United forward showed a tremendous work ethic to scamper back into midfield and, along with Steven Gerrard, harry Mousa Dembele out of possession.

Then, as the ball was worked to Ashley Young, Welbeck set off on an intelligent run that saw him dart away from Thomas Vermaelen and on to a perfectly-weighted pass from his Old Trafford team-mate.

Simon Mignolet, quickly realising the danger, raced from his line but as Vermaelen slid in to try to block the expected low drive, Wellbeck produced a sublime lob that took both the Arsenal defender and the goalkeeper out of the equation as the ball looped into an unguarded net.

With the question of who should replace Rooney in those first two group games not yet answered, such a beautifully-taken goal was a timely nudge to Hodgson that Welbeck and not Liverpool’s Andy Carroll may well be the solution.

Whether that should be alongside Young in a two-man attack rather than with the former Aston Villa man playing just behind the front man is debatable.

Against Belgium, there was plenty to suggest that Young’s threat is negated by filling a more conventional striker’s role as it meant he was unable to run from deep at the opposition defence, something that has helped him either score or have a hand in 11 of England’s last 20 goals.

The home side did improve after the break, most notably after the introduction of Rooney, and Jermain Defoe went close to benefiting from the vision of England’s talisman 15 minutes from time before going even closer near the end with a low drive that bounced against a post and away to safety.

At the other end, Belgian full-back Guillaume Gillet was equally unfortunate to see his 25-yard shot strike an upright before Chelsea’s Romelu Lakaku was harshly adjudged to have committed a foul on Joe Hart after the goalkeeper had unwisely attempted to dribble round him.

The substitute was also left bemoaning another poor call from the officials when flagged offside after being played through by Marouane Fellaini before referee Peter Rasmussen brought a halt to proceedings by blowing the full-time whistle with at least half of the crowd on their way home.

All in all, therefore, a less than convincing way to bid adieu to the nation before heading to Euro 2012 and there can be little doubt that England will have to improve hugely a week today when facing France in Donetsk.

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