July 18, 2016

England draws with Slovakia despite dominating the game

By Marc

England draws 0-0 with Slovakia despite dominating large portions of the game. Roy Hodgson made 6 changes to the team that beat Wales but this did not prevent England from taking control of the match.


In fairness, Slovakia did not come on the pitch to attack and was happy to sit back and to absorb the pressure.

As it is often the case with England when faced with this kind of opposition, they find it difficult to create clear-cut chances. England, who started with Vardy and Sturridge, up-front struggled to have shots on target as Slovakia put all their players behind the ball.

Roy Hodgson defended his decision to make changes to the team by saying that the team was good enough to win the game. He said that if England had won the game people would not have said anything about the changes he made and that they are criticizing just because they failed to score.

The England managed added that it would not have mattered which players were playing as they would have still come against 11 players in defence. He said it was not easy to play against a team that wanted to get a 0-0 draw and did not try to attack.

However, England did not play poorly and kept the ball well. They were quite dominant in the game and did create some occasions in the match. Against more attack-minded teams, England will have more opportunities and should be able to score goals.

Hodgson believes that the team will become better as the tournament progresses. He said that the stronger sides will want to attack and will not sit back, and this should give his team opportunities to score goals. The England manager said that he is satisfied with his team performance so far, and he believes that there is still more to come.