Hodgson’s diamond shines in the end
Roy Hodgson had talked about the midfield diamond formation with which he had surprised Switzerland in England’s opening tie of this group as perhaps the best way to get all of his best players into the team, in their best positions. He wanted to fine-tune it so he stuck with it here, even though there was surely the need for pace in wide areas and no need for a defensive midfielder against the might of San Marino. In the first half, England lacked tempo, they were slow on the ball and it all felt rather narrow and predictable. It was also a surprise to see Jack Wilshere start on the left of the diamond, rather than at the base. Wasn’t that supposed to be his new role for England? He would move there in the second-half, when England were better, largely because of the introductions of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Adam Lallana.
Rooney edges closer to record but should have had more
Hodgson looked angry. The England manager did that thing where he bares his teeth and snarls a bit. Which was surprising because Wayne Rooney had just scored from the penalty spot. Perhaps Hodgson considered it as the moment when San Marino’s resistance was broken and he could watch the goals fly in. But for Rooney, it was the latest small step towards the ultimate striker’s target. The England captain is now onto 42 international goals, two behind Jimmy Greaves, six behind Gary Lineker and seven behind Sir Bobby Charlton. Rooney won the penalty, skilfully drawing the kung-fu kick from Andy Selva, and he dispatched it in cold-blooded fashion. But he missed the opportunity to plunder further. Twice he fluffed his lines when one-on-one with the goalkeeper while other chances would not go his way.
Arsenal quintet play their part for their country
The London club contributed five players to this England effort and it was possible to imagine Arsène Wenger offering up the prayers that none of them suffered injuries, given the situation at his club at the moment. The announcement earlier in the day from the France Football Federation that Laurent Koscielny was suffering from tendinitis in both of his achilles tendons raised the number of casualties to 10. But it was generally a good night for England’s Gooners, even if Calum Chambers, on his first senior international start, looked nervous and made a clutch of errors. Kieran Gibbs, on his first England start in four years, was polished and adventurous; Wilshere tried to make things happen while there was the moment when Oxlade-Chamberlain, the substitute, won possession and crossed for Danny Welbeck to sweep home.
Slapstick San Marino help the home side’s cause
Things did not start well for the visitors, when the goalkeeper, Aldo Simoncini, who had conceded 171 goals in his previous 39 games, touched the ball with his hands inside his area, dropped it to his feet as though to begin play and then picked it up again. When the laughter had stopped, the referee awarded an indirect free-kick to England inside the box. San Marino did what San Marino do. They massed men behind the ball, they barely left their half and they sought to keep the scoreline down. But they spiced their performance with comic cuts, with the concession of the opening goal being perhaps the funniest. Simoncini tore from his line to contest James Milner’s corner, tripped over Luca Tosi and went down. Phil Jagielka headed home to howls of San Marino protest. It was downhill thereafter for them.
Credit to the crowd
This fixture drew a Wembley crowd of 84,654 two years ago and, although there were many thousands of empty seats here, the thing that struck you was still the unbelievable nature of the home support. In which other European nation would an attendance of 55,990 be announced for a match against the worst team in world football? The England fans were unable to hear the national anthem being played in full due to a cock-up with the microphones, which prompted looks of bemusement all around, but the atmosphere was relaxed – even as England laboured a little in the hunt for the breakthrough goal early on. There were Mexican waves on the half hour, not rowdy and emotional ones but Mexican waves nonetheless. England were not slick throughout on a wet October night, but the Wembley crowd stayed with them and they deserved respect for that.
