Though this World Cup has been full of surprises and shocks, some things never tend to change. Though many of the big teams lost games that they were expected to win based on the tournament’s history, things did not work out for them. However in England’s case the story was opposite once again. When the fans did not know what this young English would showcase at the World Cup, they played really well. On the other hand, when the expectations began to rise, they performed poorly and got knocked out. France won the tournament and the best that the English players can now do is go home and play in the Premier League once again.
Here are a few factors that lead to England’s exit from the competition in the first place-
Sterling and Henderson should have been dropped
The worst players in the game for England were Sterling and Henderson. The Manchester City man was really poor pushing forward and wasted a number of chances to make an impact. He was slow in his play and slowed down the whole pace of his team’s attack, which ensured that Croatia were able to retreat on the counter and stop them.
On the other hand, the Liverpool midfielder was good in the first half, but eventually failed to make any sort of impact beyond that. He not just let his defence down, but his passing and attempts at the opposition goal, summed up things for England on the night. Eric Dier, who was brought on to replace him did way better instantly, though there wasn’t much time left in the match at that point for him to really settle in. They may be great in the Premier League, but failed here at the grand stage.
Casual attitude by Kane, Lingard, Alli
After the first goal was scored, it was quite evident that Kane, Lingard and Alli were rather looking casual in their approach and they had some good chances that they should have taken. Lingard’s simple shot that did not even hit the target was simply poor and showcased what was missing, the will to kill the game. The English forwards had a number of chances to kill the game off, but struggled in front of goal. They let off the Croatians easy when they could have added more goals and were made to pay for it eventually.
Poor showing in the second half and extra-time
As already mentioned, the first half was the highlight of the game for England who looked rather poor in the second and were totally out of the game, once it went into extra time. The defence started to get uncomfortable, they gave away possession quite easily and the number of chances created reduced substantially. Further, once the Croatians equalized and the game went into extra-time, it just got worse. There were tired legs, more errors and the quickness in the passing dipped as well. All these things only gave the opposition more confidence that they could win it and they did.
Costly defensive lapses
Since the moment that Kyle Walker lost his cool and picked up a silly booking, things just went haywire for his team defensively. Not just did they lose their composure, but they conceded an equalizing goal which stunned their entire team. Once the full 90 minutes were completed and the game went into extra-time, Ashley Young also could not keep up with the pace of the match and Gareth Southgate had to replace him. This caused more problems and the team just could not get back into the game after that. Kieran Trippier also picked up an injury towards the end of the game, with England using all their substitutes from the game, which meant that they had to finish the match with just 10 men on the field.
Eventually, things did not go right for them and they lost to Belgium as well, ending up in 4th position and not getting out of the tournament. This would have been a huge disappointment for them, though one big name from the Premier League might be in trouble, it has been confirmed.
The Big Story-
A married Premier League star lied to a female and had sex with her, eventually paying her £2,000 (through a friend) to stay silent. The woman of the moment, 34 year old Mila Bonnet got involved with an star from England, not knowing the truth, which she eventually discovered via his Instagram.
The lady, who is Canadian and does not watch the sport, has not revealed the name of the player, due to legal reasons. However, she is out to expose the player, so that his wife knows the truth and is not kept in the dark. May God have mercy on the soul of this troubled footballer!!
