ENGLAND 2-0 ANDORRA: Thomas Tuchel’s England limped to another forgettable win against Andorra as World Cup qualification resumed with a whimper at Villa Park.
The Villa Park crowd probably wished they had gone to see Coldplay at Wembley instead. This was not a great advert for international football and even one of Chris Martin’s songs might have got the pulses racing faster.
Ultimately, England got the job done against an Andorra team which is ranked 174th in the world but it felt more like a training session than a World Cup qualifier. It was only moved to the Midlands because Coldplay had already booked a string of sell out nights at Wembley and this felt like such a familiar England storyline.
They were sluggish, lacked intensity and completely uninspiring. Thomas Tuchel could really do with some momentum – but England struggled to get out of first gear. England had to rely on an own goal to break the deadlock and only managed one of their own thanks to Declan Rice’s second half header.
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There were some positives as Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson was bright and impressive on his debut, moving the ball and looking at home in international football. England boss Tuchel is desperately looking for a new No.6 to anchor his midfield to release the shackles from Rice and Anderson put on a good audition.
But England looked too much like the team which laboured against Andorra in the reverse fixture back in June when only Harry Kane’s solitary goal separated the teams. Not even Kane could get on the scoresheet this time.
It was lacklustre and dull. It was also a long way from instilling the sort of buzz they will need to go to Serbia next Tuesday where they will face arguably the toughest fixture in Group K.
Let’s be honest, they are halfway to being qualified and one thing England do well is qualifying campaigns. But if they wanted to get the nation believing in them again ahead of next year’s World Cup, this was not the goal feast they needed.
Tuchel actually wheeled out the old cliche in his programme notes. “There are no easy games at international level any more.”
Come on, we cannot fall for that one. Incredibly, Andorra only managed four touches in England’s penalty box. It is down to England to break them down and they made hard work of it back in June – and it was the same story again this time.
Tuchel cut a frustrated, slightly worried figure as he sat on top of a drinks cooler box on the touchline as England were rather sluggish and did not move the ball nearly quick enough. Anderson looked bright and lively as he tried to get England moving in midfield while Noni Madueke was sharp down the right.
But these games are always about just how early you can get the first goal. Andorra came to defend, strung five across the back and tried to soak it all up. They are whipping boys resigned to their fate.
The much-needed breakthrough came after 25 minutes. Madueke floated a cross from the right, Andorra defender Christian Garcia went up to head the ball but only succeeded in diverting the ball into his own net. That should have been the moment the floodgates opened. But England were so wasteful in front of goal.
Eberechi Eze saw his shot pushed away by Andorra keeper Iker Alvarez and Marcus Rashford had a huge chance from the rebound but steered his shot wide.
Kane set up Anderson but he failed to take advantage and Alvarez made another smart save. Rashford cut the ball back for Eze but the Arsenal new boy skied over as he was disappointing in the No.10 role.
Finally England got a second. Tuchel loves Reece James from their time together at Chelsea. And James’ crossing can be superb. This time, James whipped one over from the right, Rice rose at the back post and his towering header flew in.
But the game faded away and, rather embarrassingly, Villa Park was half empty at the final whistle. The early leavers were probably making a dash for Wembley for better entertainment.
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