Poland 1 England 1:ROY HODGSON remains unbeaten as England manager with his team still clear at the top of their qualifying group, though the haggard expression he wore through much of this spluttering performance betrayed a grimmer reality. Another opportunity to impose authority over the section has been passed up, the overriding emotion at the end here one of relief that at least a point had been preserved. If the pitch was soggy, the display was sloppy.
This all felt depressingly unsatisfactory, the tone set early as simple passes flew into touch and maintained through a period when the visitors held an unlikely lead. Even that was a scruffy goal, plucked from a set-piece and looped in from Wayne Rooney’s shoulder, with England’s slickest exchanges reserved for the latter stages when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain injected zip to their approach as they urgently sought to restore their lead. The manager conceded this had been one of his team’s less impressive displays.
The frustration was that, with experienced players on the pitch and the hosts’ own confidence notoriously brittle, the lead could not be retained. Half-chances had been spurned on the break by Jermain Defoe and Rooney, the latter skying over the bar after Danny Welbeck sprinted clear and round the goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton to pull a pass back from the byline.
At that stage the Poles appeared to be wilting only for England to doze off. Ludovic Obraniak’s corner prompted panic, Joe Hart missing when punching down the wrong line, and Joleon Lescott shrinking as Kamil Glik headed into the empty net.
It was the lack of tempo and poise to England’s display that felt most dispiriting. Hodgson could point to the pitch and the postponement as reason for the stodgy passages of play with vague suggestions it is “a bit easier to recover for a rearranged game if you’re on home soil”. That soil was still drenched, reminders of the fiasco the night before omnipresent.
Hodgson conceded there had been more pizzazz the previous day as players prepared. “I had the impression earlier in the week that the players were looking sharp and lively,” he said. “I didn’t have that impression today.” The colossal tarpaulin roof had been opened and closed throughout the day, as if taunting those fans who could not attend the rescheduled game, as the locals sought to dry the surface so there was an irony this game kicked off with sunshine pouring through the concourse under the canopy.
The turf was heavy after the previous day’s deluge, the ball skidding on in places and slowing up in others. Hodgson described it as “dead”. It appeared to sap energy from much of the approach play his team summoned. Poland, justifiably, could argue their own efforts to counter at pace were too often stifled at source, though they carried the more potent threat. Lukasz Piszczek and Kamil Grosicki tore into Ashley Cole, the left-back exposed with Tom Cleverley tucked infield, but the pitch was too stodgy for the Poles to generate proper momentum.
Cole, making his 99th appearance, benefited from little support even once Oxlade-Chamberlain had entered the fray. Piszczek was a tricky opponent throughout, with Hart suffocating a loose ball at his feet early on. Grosicki scuffed wide with England flustered. Michael Carrick’s radar was scrambled and Rooney a mess of misplaced deliveries. Even Hart’s composure was suspect, his fluffed clearance surrendering possession with Robert Lewandowski fizzing a shot across goal and wide.
Then, out of the carelessness, Steven Gerrard barged forward to win a corner and, with the Poles disorganised, Rooney converted the captain’s delivery. His 32nd goal at this level felt unexpected, his departure for Oxlade-Chamberlain less so. “I know I can play better than that,” conceded the Manchester United forward. “But the pitch took a lot out of your legs.” Some of his better work had been in retreat, seeking to check Polish attacks, but with Rooney, Carrick, Gerrard and a relatively reassuring back-line on the pitch, the visitors had reason to hope they could cling on.
That sense was only heightened when Poland’s eager opening to the second half was weathered. But the England fans – barely half the original 2,500 travelling supporters appeared to be in attendance – were to be denied their win. Glik’s equaliser redressed the balance and means, by the time England travel to Montenegro in March, they could be two points behind their hosts in Podgorica. Improvement is required.
POLAND: Tyton, Piszczek, Wasilewski, Wawrzyniak, Glik, Polanski, Krychowiak, Wszolek (Mierzejewski 63), Grosicki (Milik 82), Obraniak (Borysiuk 90), Lewandowski. Subs not used: Kuszczak, Wojtkowiak, Komorowski, Murawski, Sobota, Piech, Perquis, Sobiech, Skorupski. Booked: Polanski, Glik.
ENGLAND: Hart, Glen Johnson, Jagielka, Lescott, Cole, Milner, Carrick, Gerrard, Cleverley, Rooney (Oxlade-Chamberlain 73), Defoe (Welbeck 67). Subs not used: Ruddy, Walker, Baines, Cahill, Shawcross, Shelvey, Lennon, Adam Johnson, Carroll, Forster. Booked: Cole.
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy).
