England did win 2-0 against Albania on Sunday. From my view, they ended their World Cup qualifying without a single loss in their group. The first half honestly had no goals to speak of. It was the captain, Harry Kane, who ended up scoring twice for the win which was a nice way to finish the year.
Albania’s defense was really tough to get through early on, I thought. Nothing changed before halftime. They definitely played with more energy later in the game though. Kane’s goals coming late made the victory feel pretty comfortable in the end, he just knows how to finish.
Dom Smith from Standard Sport rated the players, and I saw he gave Dean Henderson a 7. He made a couple good saves and even a important tackle, though he’s probably not going to be the main keeper. Making his first appearance, Jarell Quansah also got a 7 from what I saw, he played okay at right-back and even helped in attack. Dan Burn only got a 5, his first touch wasn’t great all night even if he was good in the air.
I noticed John Stones was trying midfield in the first half, which didn’t really seem to work, and he got a 6. Adam Wharton also got a 6 on his first start, he was trying forward passes which was risky and got a yellow card. Declan Rice looked really tired when he was substituted, also a 6, he had to work hard because of Albania’s midfield.
Jarrod Bowen was maybe England’s best player for most of the game, I think, before Kane scored. He got a 7 for always running and defending. Eberechi Eze wasn’t as good as last game and got a 5, he kind of ran into trouble sometimes. Harry Kane obviously got the best rating, an 8, for his two goals and some good passing, and I heard he now has more international goals than Pele.
The players who came on in the second half made a real difference. Phil Foden came on and got a 7, he was full of energy and linked up well with others. Bukayo Saka got a 6, he didn’t do much overall but it was his corner that led to the first goal. A few other substitutes came on too late for a proper rating from what I could tell.
This whole qualifying campaign has gone really well for England, showing they’re a strong team. With Kane playing like this and new players coming through, they’ll want to keep this feeling going for the World Cup.
Honestly, the atmosphere in the stadium felt a bit flat to me at first, like everyone was just waiting for something to happen that never came before halftime. I suppose the fans were getting restless with all the passing but no real danger in front of the goal. It’s a different feeling watching a game when the score is still level, you can feel the tension building in the crowd.
From where I was sitting, the manager’s decision at halftime seemed to really change the game for us. Pushing Stones back into defense and bringing on the substitutes later just gave the whole team a better shape and more directness going forward. It wasn’t a complicated change, but sometimes that’s all it takes to break a team down that’s sitting so deep in their own half.
Looking at the whole group, you have to feel confident about how we handled every single match. I think it builds a good habit, winning all these games, even if some of the performances weren’t perfect from start to finish. The real test is always going to be later, but you can only beat what’s in front of you, and that’s exactly what was done.
