25 min Keskinen gets away from Walker and pings a decent cross into the middle. Kallman is the only Finland player in the box, however, and it’s nowhere near him.
Finland v England: Nations League – live | Nations LeagueKey events 25 min Keskinen gets away from Walker and pings a decent cross into the middle. Kallman is the only Finland player in the box, however, and it’s nowhere near him. 23 min Grealish and Bellingham are combining a lot in the inside-left channel. England could still do with an overlapping left-back, but they have what they have. 23 min “All this messing with Trent isn’t doing him, or the team any good,” says Colum Farrelly. “Play him at right back. Or, in the absence of a fit left back, play him at left back. But omit the right-back-with-a-bit-of-midfielder, the left-back-with-free-role (wha?) and if he’s not playing well, don’t play him. Then he’ll know what he’s supposed to do and have a chance to do it well.” 21 min The last man Guehi shows excellent pace to beat Alho to a long ball forward. He looks very assured at this level. 19 min I know it’s only Nations League Group B2, but that eye-of-the-needle pass from Gomes was very classy. Jack Grealish gets his second goal under Lee Carsley. Alexander-Arnold played a short pass into Gomes, 25 yards from goal. He controlled it on the half turn and flicked a gorgeous through ball for Grealish, who timed his run perfectly and passed the ball under Hradecky. GOAL! Finland 0-1 England (Grealish 18)Jack’s back. 17 min Jensen is penalised for a challenge on Bellingham, complains to the referee and receives an extravagant, arm-waving reprimand. You had to be there. 15 min Finland have done well so far to deny England space in the final third. It helps that England’s play has been quite relatively narrow. I do think that’s a problem the new manager needs to address. 13 min Incidentally, Topi Keskinen, who almost gave Finland the lead in the seventh minute, has a tattoo of Wayne Rooney on his person. 11 min A corner from Palmer is only half cleared by Finland. Alexander-Arnold walks onto the ball, 25 yards from goal, and hits a low drive that is kicked away. He didn’t catch it perfectly and looks frustrated with himself. 10 min The first bit of really good play from England. Grealish slides a crisp return pass into Bellingham on the edge of the area. He twists Jensen (I think) one way and then the other before hitting a shot that deflects off Jensen and spins behind for a corner. 8 min Now England almost get into trouble when Alexander-Arnold gives the ball away. A couple of moments of sloppiness from England. 7 min: Chance for Finland! All that passing from England and it’s Finland who almost take the lead. Gomes gave the ball away to Kamara, and seconds later Stones had to make a desperate sliding block from Kallman’s shot. The ball ran loose to Keskinen, who mishit his shot wide of the near post. 4 min Loads of early possession for England, which comes as no surprise. Trent Alexander-Arnold is almost playing as a left-back with a free role. Imagine if you’d pitched that idea to Jackie Charlton in the 1990s. 1 min Peep peep! England, in their dark raisin/sesame (sic) change strip, kick off from right to left as we watch. Finland have started with a back five, not the advertised 4-3-3. They literally lied on their Twitter feed. As the players stroll onto the field, here’s a reminder of the two teams. Finland (possible 4-3-3) Hradecky; Alho, Hoskonen, Ivanov, Uronen; Kamara, Schuller, Peltola; F Jensen, Kallman, Keskinen. England (possible 4-2-3-1) Henderson; Walker, Stones, Guehi, Alexander-Arnold; Gomes, Rice; Palmer, Bellingham, Grealish; Kane. Referee Giorgi Kruashvili (Georgia). A bit of pre-match reading Finland manager Markku Kanerva speaks to ITV
“Interesting quote from Carsley on wanting to try something different,” says Joe Pearson. “Is that a coded way of saying it was an object lesson to all those that thought Southgate was too stodgy and conservative?” I’m not sure that’s how he works. I suspect it was more in the spirit of the England cricket team, testing the boundaries of what’s possible. That’s quite admirable because he’s smart enough to have known what was coming if it went wrong. England’s Nations League campaign concludes in November with matches against Greece (A) and Ireland (H), then the speculation about Gareth Southgate’s successor will really begin. That’ll be fun. Remember when Lee Carsley speaks to ITV
Jonathan Liew on England
Poor bloke probably can’t wait to get back to the under-21s. Team news: Carsley makes six changesAll change in the England team, with Lee Carsley reverting to a more familiar 4-2-3-1 formation. Harry Kane, Marc Guehi, Kyle Walker, Angel Gomes, Jack Grealish and Dean Henderson replace Phil Foden, Levi Colwill, Rico Lewis, Jordan Pickford, Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka. That means either Walker or, more likely, Trent Alexander-Arnold will start at left-back. Finland have made five changes to the side that lost at home to Ireland on Thursday. Finland (possible 4-3-3) Hradecky; Alho, Hoskonen, Ivanov, Uronen; Kamara, Schuller, Peltola; F Jensen, Kallman, Keskinen. England (possible 4-2-3-1) Henderson; Walker, Stones, Guehi, Alexander-Arnold; Gomes, Rice; Palmer, Bellingham, Grealish; Kane. Referee Giorgi Kruashvili (Georgia). PreambleThe difference a game makes. There was plenty of goodwill towards Lee Carsley after his first window as England’s interim manager, with the BBC among those surmising that the job was his to lose. All that goodwill evaporated on Thursday night, when England were beaten by Greece after Carsley picked an, a-hem, experimental XI that inccluded five forwards and no striker. Carsley was praised by many before the game for letting England’s hair down, then ridiculed after it for being a bald fraud. And while it’s almost entirely unfair, Carsley’s distinguished England coaching career will probably now be remembered for the night he gambled on a 4-1-5-0 formation. “You want the public to trust and love the team,” said Carsley, “because the impact the national team has on the public is very inspiring. We know we can do a lot better. You have to respect people’s opinions and we didn’t perform as well as we can and I would expect a reaction against Finland.” England will pick a more conventional team in Finland, with Harry Kane likely to return up front, and they yet could end the day on top of Group B2. That would require the Republic of Ireland to win in Greece but, as England know all too well, stranger things have happened. Kick off 5pm. Source link Posted: 2024-10-13 17:28:06 |
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