Has Southgate gotten it right?

The 2022 Fifa World Cup started with a bright atmosphere on Sunday evening with the host falling to the sword of the Ecuador national team.

2dk2RRM2dZ8gKjXsrozapsD83FxL3Xbyyi5LFttAhrXxr16mCe4arfLHWWHEuCNydav37qrcug3BfgSt2BuGcxC7uWg1w4XU3FcP4wt5BfdAg5osd3f5D28Tat2SiVh3XvUYJBu4ELaJLa6DJMzS3danEJPzFa7kaQn7Ho8BTc (1).png

After the first half, I got tired of seeing just one team putting pressure in attack.

The Qatar national team were way too unimpressive and anyone expecting anything significant from them in this tournament must be looking at things from an unusual perspective.

Ecaudor win wasn't convincing enough either, they will definitely have struggled if they have played an average team instead of Qatar.

20201218_163509_0000.png

England and Iran faced off in the second fixture of the world cup and the result from this encounter might probably be the highest scoreline we will see in the group stage matches in the competition. The fixture unexpectedly produced 8 goals with 6 from England and the other 2 from Iran.

I knew it wouldn't be as competitive as expected and I wasn't expecting England to score quite great numbers of goals against their opponent. The result got me wondering what changed for England at this highly competitive level.


Garry Southgate and his boys disappointing performances at the Nations League remains a sore in the heart of many English fans and it is something that has made lot of football enthusiast expect less from England in the world cup. We were expecting a victory against Iran but I doubt if anyone would have predicted this scoreline, the maximum number of goals I was expecting was probably 3 from England.

England didn't get one victory out of six matches in the Nations League and starting with 6 goals in their first match is quite outstanding.

You can tell that Iran is not a worthy opponent but 6 goals is still quite a lot for aside that has given nothing but a disappointing performance in their last six matches.


England starting lineup consist of big players from top class clubs around the world and the result shows the quality the manager has brought together for the competition.

Southgate using four defenders clearly tells he learnt something from their woeful outing at the Nations League.

The communication between the boys was impressive and they can achieve a lot more if they give their best in matches to come. They played as a team and gave their best individually, that's what every manager would expect from a team with awesome class of players.

Iran isn't a side that should give England a tough time but football can be very unpredictable. I was expecting a lesser scoreline from the encounter but it came out the other way around.

The victory isn't convincing enough because of Iran ranking in the football world and the real test will begin for them when they get passed the group stage. England still have the likes of USA and Wales in the group stage match, these teams are definitely going to give Southgate a better test than Iran and no matter how things turn out, the English national team will definitely make it out of the group.

20201218_163509_0000.png

My opinion about the England squad.

Depending on Harry Kane would only hinder the team from doing exorbitantly well in the competition. He is becoming outdated and it must bring Southgate the joy to see the youth taking things seriously than before. Although Harry Kane had a huge impact in the victory and hopefully, he will do the needful on days when his experience will be greatly needed.

The England defense made some cheap mistakes that could have led to goals if they were playing against a strong attacking side. They conceded twice and it might be more against a worthy opponent, Southgate still have a lot to do in defense if he will ever survive the knockout stages of the worldcup.



0
0
0.000
12 comments
avatar

Definitely a good warm up match which should see the team settle down and improve. The knockout stages they should be ready and possibly time to rest Maguire and a few others who are too slow at the back.

0
0
0.000
avatar

The match should actually boost the team morale and I hope Southgate wouldn't dwell too much on that victory to the extent of forgetting the errors that need to be corrected.

Maguire did more work in the opponent box and I was if he switched roles with Harry Kane

0
0
0.000
avatar

I don't mean to be a buzz killer but no disrespect, they played against Iran. My issue is not their group stage but the qualifying stage when it counts. It's a good result and I'm happy with how they set up but I can't be impressed with Southgate again...

0
0
0.000
avatar

Iran isn't a real test for England but they team spirit seems high and they could be doing better than we expect in the world cup

0
0
0.000
avatar

I sincerely hope so. Fingers crossed.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Everyone is talking about this lol..meanwhile, I can't relate 😂

0
0
0.000
avatar
(Edited)

Lolz, it is the world up session and I guess the vibe just went through you.

England's national team has been struggling for some time and they went on to thrash an underdog in the football world.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Honestly I scratched off England from my watch list after their poor form in the Nations League. I even thought Thomas Tuchel is replacing Southgate and since it didn't happen, I lost interest in this hyped English team.

But I got it wrong. Jude Bellingham was sensational and brought so much to the team. The youngsters Bukayo Saka, Mason Mount, substitute Rashford were contributing so much. Maguire is getting back his form? I'm waiting for Kane's banger performance (probably against USA).

0
0
0.000
avatar

I would not hype it up too much. The best teams are slowly working their way into a torunament without starting with a bang. This is why I would not bring my hopes too much up for the the English squad to be honest.

0
0
0.000
avatar

That's right, I believe it is too early to judge the teams now. We will know who is who as the competition progresses.

0
0
0.000