Israel 0 England 0: Goalless and soulless England on the brink

By Steve Tongue in Tel Aviv

Sunday, 25 March 2007

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On the day that professional football returned to Wembley in exciting fashion, hopes of an optimistic new era for the national game were dashed by England's depressing failure to score for the fourth time in five matches. The four European Championship fixtures at the new stadium next autumn starting with a double-header against Israel and Russia in September will now be fraught affairs, the best hope being that Croatia have already qualified as group winners before winding up the campaign in London on 21 November.

Most of the media and public would doubtless like a new head coach to be in charge by then but there is little or no chance of Steve McClaren being replaced in the near future. He continues to insist that he enjoys the job, and historically the Football Association do not change horses in midstream.

Although their chief executive, Brian Barwick, embarrassed himself a year ago by approaching Luis Felipe Scolari before claiming McClaren was always first choice, he has remained supportive and, assuming that three points are collected against Andorra on Wednesday, only defeat in Estonia in June and a sudden loss of nerve among the international committee could prompt a sacking.

McClaren's assertion that it was time to stand and deliver could not deliver a crucial goal, for all his team's territorial dominance in the second half. He made his feelings known in the dressing room while declining to criticise the players as strongly in public.

Meanwhile, John Terry's promised effing and blinding on the pitch was probably echoed wherever two or more England fans were gathered together, including the visiting section of the crowd here. They had already given us "what a load of rubbish" before McClaren upset them by bringing on Stewart Downing for the lively Aaron Lennon, prompting the accusation "You don't know what you're doing".

He continues to insist that he does, despite confusing himself in saying: "We've lost... sorry drawn... a game we should have won. For the first 20 minutes they put us under pressure but on another day we'd have scored a lot of goals."

Unfortunately the failure to put even one away makes this England's worst scoring run since the equally sterile qualifying campaign for the 1982 World Cup. Under Ron Greenwood they also scored only one goal in five games, the manager having to be talked out of resigning before a fortuitous combination of results elsewhere allowed them to scrape through their group. If the other sides continue to take points off each other, there is every chance of the same outcome. Predictable wins last night for Croatia and Russia mean that England stay third in Group E, and should go above the Russians in midweek.

There will still have to be considerable improvement, individually and collectively. Although Lennon produced some good crosses, and the defence recovered composure after a dreadful start, Wayne Rooney and Andy Johnson could make no headway, Bolton's Tal Ben Haim making a better fist of handling Rooney than he had at Old Trafford last weekend. Steven Gerrard stayed out wide without exerting anything like the influence he frequently manages for Liverpool, and Frank Lampard found life difficult against two holding midfielders.

Israel's veteran coach, Dron Kashtan, was bold enough to send out two strikers, keeping Toto Tamuz, the exciting teenage son of a Nigerian international, wide on the left but leaving Chelsea's 17-year-old Ben Sahar in the dug-out until the last 20 minutes. The captain, Yossi Benayoun, had a free role and was not picked up tightly enough until after half-time.

He was a dominant figure early on as Tamuz, a quick and powerful runner, proved he had the legs of Neville except when the Everton defender took them from under him. But it was hardly Neville's fault that Rio Ferdinand sold him dangerously short with a square pass on the edge of the area early on, allowing Tamuz a fierce shot wide.

The hosts had been advised in some quarters to slow the pace of the game, as England would want a high tempo. Instead the roles were reversed. The tackles were never less than vigorous. Arik Benado, winning a record 91st cap, and Jamie Carragher both had their names taken before England finally made a chance in the 17th minute.

Lennon, demonstrating a welcome ability to go past his man on the outside instead of always cutting in on his right foot, crossed on the run for Rooney, the Deportivo La Coruna goalkeeper Dudu Aouate saving comfortably. Johnson and Gerrard then played Lampard in but the ball stuck under his feet before he could jab it past the advancing goalkeeper.

Briefly pushed back, Israel came again, urged on by a capacity crowd who had been brought to the boil before kick-off by a farewell presentation to the popular Eyal Berkovic. Paul Robinson had to make his first save from Tamuz after Benayoun had supplied the energetic winger, who should have put his team in front just before the half-hour. Neither Ferdinand nor John Terry were close enough to challenge his leap as Amit Ben Shushan crossed from the right, but fortunately for England the header drifted past a post.

If the pep talk among the isotonic drinks was stronger in England's dressing room, it had an effect of sorts and for a long time the play was almost exclusively in Israel's half. But real penetration was lacking. Aouate held Lampard's volley from one of the few cohesive moves and then the Chelsea man and Johnson both slid headers wide. Closest of all was Carragher, stealing forward to meet a corner from the left with a firm header that clipped the crossbar.

Israel, now impotent in attack, changed both strikers, sending on Sahar up the middle against his club-mate Terry to no effect. England responded by introducing Micah Richards for Neville, who had just had a strong shot diverted for another corner. What was worrying was that even though the home side no longer looked dangerous, England's chances were slipping away. Jermain Defoe replaced the unsuccessful Johnson, who had failed to break his international duck at the sixth attempt.

Time had run out for England, though still not for McClaren.

QUOTE UNQUOTE: 'You've got to blame players in the final third'

"My job is to make sure England reach Euro 2008. I am still confident we will be there. A lot of people said this was going to be a very hard game. The atmosphere is intense, Israel have a very good home record and a lot of people said a draw would be a fair result. If we had won the game 1-0, everyone would have said it was a typical away performance in international football. I have been involved in many like that. Unfortunately, tonight, we didn't get the goal. We have scored once in five games so you can see where the problem is." Steve McClaren, England coach

"The manager wanted three points and we delivered the clean sheet but we haven't been clinical enough in front of goal. If you don't take your half chances at this level, you don't deserve to win. It feels like a defeat. It's hard to put your finger on why we are not scoring. You see our players, not just the strikers but the midfielders, banging in goals week in and week out at club level. But in the last four or five internationals, we've struggled in front of goal. You can't just blame the strikers. You've got to blame the six or seven players in the final third." Steven Gerrard, England midfielder

"Any result other than a loss pleases me, and particularly when considering the way we played today, especially in the first half. They have excellent players who know how to pressurise defences ... we prepared for all these scenarios [aiming to slow the pace of the game]. Certainly in matches such as these you cannot play at England's pace." Dror Kashtan, Israel's coach