Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don’t like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that – Bill Shankly.
The game against Wales is now set up as a crunch match for England and indeed the pressure appears to be on the men in white.
A draw with a fairly ordinary Russian unit, but an amazing win for Wales in gameweek one of this year’s EUROs, has effectively left England in a must win situation on Thursday afternoon.
The rhetoric from the Welsh camp can be brushed aside as England must focus on the biggest game for many a year. Even the World Cup games in Brazil in 2014 didn’t feel anywhere near as important as the tie against Wales.
It’s a notable game for a few reasons, but mainly because it’s against another British team. England have a far superior record against the Welsh and it isn’t surprising that that is the case. England are a bigger country, with more resources and more players to call upon, but the Three Lions don’t want to lose on Thursday as a matter of pride.
Equally, England cannot afford to lose because in just gameweek two of this competition, it could signal complete and utter failure and virtually an early elimination, while Wales progress.
There is a nervousness around the English footballing public, as the national teams displays offer nothing much in terms of encouragement. The game against Russia was better than the vast majority of England performances under Roy Hodgson, but there’s always that suspicion of ‘what if we lose?’ and if you were due a loss, it would typically be against a team that you should be able to beat.
It will be interesting to see just how much England go for it in Lens. The question will remain as to whether Roy Hodgson alters the formation from 4-3-3 against Russia to a 4-4-2 to bring in Jamie Vardy alongside Harry Kane.
With the 4-3-3, Adam Lallana and Raheem Sterling on the wings can press high and stay up the pitch. They are able to go outside the two wide centre-halves and ahead of the Welsh wing-backs. This would give Wales a real headache since if their wing backs push on, England will have a three-on-three situation.
Wales will probably start with the same team as they did against Slovakia, although manager Chris Coleman is being encouraged to play match-winner Hal Robson-Kanu with Gareth Bale.
Should Vardy not play, then Kane will need to be deadlier in front of goal than he was, and the absence of the Leicester man would greatly please the Welsh defence.
The Welsh team are obviously raring to go against the English and they will be at the England team from the first whistle, therefore England need to be alert, focused and on their game, as this will be anything but simple.
Bale is goading the England team with his comments and Roy is hitting back, so the Welsh feel a little triumph already as they get under the English skin.
England cannot afford any more slip-ups if they want to top their pool and secure a more advantageous passage in the knockout phase and with the team spirit high amongst the Welsh, England need to match them in every way and then better it.
Speaking at a press conference, the Independent reported Bale saying that they are closer to England’s level than ever before. “We know they’re a bigger nation with more players to choose from but we’ve closed the gap massively,” Bale said. “We know they’re a good team and, I’m sure if they put in a good performance, they’ll feel they can beat us and we’re exactly the same. If we work well as a team, we feel we can win.”
Given the format of the competition England could even lose against Wales in their next match and still go on to qualify for the knockout stages. The four best-placed third teams will go through to the last 16, so there is no need to panic, however, Hodgson and England will only have one result on their minds. In reality, England really mustn’t lose this.
Thursday’s game is the biggest in a few years, so let’s hope it’s one worth remembering in a few years’ time if you are English, for all the right reasons.
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