England largely played in a 4-2-3-1 system in a 2-1 victory over Hungary at Wembley this evening. The Three Lions first game since their disappointing show at the World Cup saw them play in front of a notably reduced crowd who watched captain Steven Gerrard score both goals in the friendly international. A gate of more than 72000 was significantly less than the attendance to Sunday’s Community Shield. The fans voiced their displeasure modestly, only jeering and booing the men in white at half time, with John Terry and Wayne Rooney receiving some individually. Although manager Fabio Capello brought youngsters into the squad there was no player making a debut from the start.
Rooney played as a lone striker in the first half, a role in which he displayed the discipline he had lacked in South Africa. Before Bobby Zamora made his England bow for the second forty-five there was none of the drifting ludicrously deep in search of the ball we so often see when he begins to get isolated or lacks service. Old habits then surfaced and I find it so irritating when a forward drops back into his own half to receive the ball. Despite the brightness of recalled widemen Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson the final ball is still missing, but an increase in freedom and creativity was encouraging. Walcott particularly looked completely reinvigorated, having missed out on the plane to South Africa and going through a full pre-season with Arsenal; his display was almost unrecognisable from the timid performances of the pre-tournament warm-up friendlies. Unafraid to run at defenders and drawing fouls successfully he has done his chances of playing against Bulgaria on September 3rd a lot of good.
Everton’s Phil Jagielka impressed too. He looked solid positionally and a threat from set pieces. His central defensive colleague Michael Dawson must take responsibility for Hungary’s goal however. The Tottenham player’s mistake led to Jagielka’s desperate lunge that has not conclusively been proved to have crossed the line despite the French assistant referee’s flagging for a goal; this, in spite of Dawson’s best efforts to clear off the line. In the end this lapse was of no significance thanks to Gerrard’s double. His first was smashed in from the edge of the D after debutant Kieran Gibbs passed infield. The young Arsenal player looks very much to be in the mould of Ashley Cole, the man he replaced at half time. Gibbs’s endeavour should be praised but I reserve judgment on his defensive abilities. His club teammate Jack Wilshere got only ten minutes, not enough time to show what he could offer in truth, but it marks another significant milestone in the career of the 18-year old.
Zamora showed his abilities to play in a target man on the international stage, winning everything he chested and his willingness to run into the channels to hold the ball up is encouraging as it shows a mobility England simply did not have with Emile Heskey. Ashley Young may have missed an opportunity to make himself a regular in the squad, despite his pass into Gerrard for the second goal as it was the captain’s own work which gave the Three Lions the lead. Joe Hart can be pleased with his first start and full ninety minutes as everything thrown at him by Hungary was easy to deal with, the likes of Zamora’s Fulham teammate Zoltan Gera and Ipswich’s Tamas Priskin failed to really test the Manchester City stopper.
Hungary looked organised, the centre halves that played the first forty-five were solid, but former Crystal Palace goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly was easily their best player on the night, keeping the score respectable, making a top save to deny Zamora a debut goal late on. He regularly denied England and came out of his area to deal with through-balls when required. There are clear positive signs for Fabio Capello to take as he looks to the next game and the start of the European Championship qualifiers.
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