England face ‘unthinkable’ Euro exit

England succumbed to a defeat this week which may end the nation’s hopes of reaching Euro 2008 after being stunned by a second half Russian comeback in Luzhniki. The 2-1 reverse leaves England second in the group on 23 points behind Croatia on 26. England will now have to hope other results go their way if they are to qualify as Croatia and third place Russia (on 21 points) have a game in hand over England. The team played well on an unfamiliar synthetic surface, particularly the restored Sol Campbell and the tireless Joe Cole as England stifled attacks, defended manfully and even took the lead with a wonderfully taken goal by Wayne Rooney thirty minutes in. For an hour England were rarely troubled and it looked as though Russia would be left struggling to qualify. However, after increased pressure on the hour mark, the panic button was hit hard and for 10 minutes England lost their composure and the ability to manage the tempo of proceedings. Substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko, who has a prolific record at the stadium, took full advantage stunning England with 2 goals in 5 minutes. England had good chances before and after Russia’s onslaught but ultimately, after the brief frantic period, the damage had been done.

In the immediate aftermath the blame was put squarely on the shoulders of Wayne Rooney and Paul Robinson. Football experts deemed that the result hinged on two errors, leading to Pavlyuchenko’s two goals, although in hindsight this represents a failure to credit Russia and their manager Guus Hiddink with the tactical praise they deserved. Russia’s first goal was a dubious penalty following a tumble from Konstantin Zyryanov. Rooney, covering for Joe Cole on the left, lost concentration for a vital few seconds and Zyryanov sped onto a pass behind the England striker. He was hauled down in a desperate attempt from Rooney to claw back the yards his mental lapse had cost. It was a legitimate foul from a forward player out of position and was foolishly committed, although replays showed the offence clearly happened outside the penalty area. It had looked a questionable decision in real-time too but there were few complaints by Rooney or the other England players even though the linesman did not flag. Instead it was the referee, some distance away, who instantly pointed to the spot, much to McClaren’s fury, ‘It’s an absolute disgrace. It’s outside the box. The linesman didn’t give it. It was the referee from quite some distance. Things like that turn games.’ Worse was to follow for McLaren and England after Pavlyuchenko dispatched his first of the night past the crisis-strewn Robinson from the spot.

With England backs against the wall clearances were now being hoofed and sliced anywhere, while the Russians kept supplying their number 10 Andrey Arshavin with possession and he tried a number of keys to unlock England’s back door. As the shots continued to rain in, finally one wasn’t blocked by the impressive Ferdinand or Campbell as Vasily Berezutsky poked a shot goal wards. There was average power in the strike and it came at a comfortable height and reach to Paul Robinson, although there was a fair amount of spin on the wet ball. While a more composed and settled keeper may have attempted to catch or at least parry the ball to safety, the ‘England number 1’ (which sounds more and more like a cruel joke these days) could only fumble the ball into the six yard box. Pavlyuchenko showed the sharpest reflexes, beating the lunging Joleon Lescott to stab home the all-important second goal. McClaren’s faith in an underperforming keeper has cost England and many will feel it was an accident waiting to happen given the Spurs man’s prolonged series of errors. Unfortunately no proven alternative has shone to wrest the position from Robinson, with the only genuine contender David James infamous for going from the sublime to the ridiculous (think Portsmouth 7 Reading 4).

There are now serious repercussions for Steve McLaren and if England fails to qualify for a major tournament for the first time since 1994 he will surely be asked to leave his post. It may point to his failings at the very highest level when you contrast the post-match comments from McLaren and Russia’s Guus Hiddink. Hiddink the master tactician, has had great success with getting the best from inferior footballing nations in the past, such as South Korea and Australia, and he revealed his specific approach to maximise his side’s effect against England, ‘in the first half we had two strikers and they were playing with Lescott rather inside as a central defender with Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell. So in the first half we had a lot of space on the right side and so we could penetrate there…That was why I changed it at half-time; they were vulnerable that side. And I like making Joe Cole a left full-back: you get rid of one of their attackers. That is why we damaged them.’

The Dutchman’s comments demonstrated how he carefully constructed Russia’s setup in response to the way England lined up, adapting it as the game developed so that his side forced England back. McLaren on the other hand, in what has become a typically bland response said, ‘I can’t reflect in the detail right now. I have not seen the flow of the game. That decision cost us. We went from that to losing the game.’ Rather, than analyse tactical failings or plans that did or did not materialise in the game, he simply looked for an excuse or a scapegoat. McClaren holds a UEFA A licence coaching badge, and I am far from saying he is inept but he has never shown publicly his application and knowledge of specific technical insight in the same way that someone like Hiddink has. Sometimes though, luck too has a cruel role to play and McClaren has not had much of that – Robinson’s freak miss-kick against Croatia (which was the catalyst for his ruined confidence), injuries to key players (Owen, Terry, Neville) and referee mistakes (Rooney’s trip outside the box) have disrupted the campaign.

It has been a harsh tenure in charge of England for McLaren. The team did not deserve to lose against Russia and in recent times the players have found a balance and cohesion, playing good football and the fans have been won over after a post-World Cup depression. However, after a poor start to qualification England needed to have a faultless campaign thereafter and those early results are now the ones which may lose McLaren his job. Captain Steven Gerrard was left pondering what might have been had his volley 8 yards out at 1-0 gone in and spoke for us all when he said, ‘It’s unthinkable that we could have a European Championship without England being there…’. Unthinkable yes, but now also quite probable too. Come on Israel!