The former England defender Danny Mills has admitted that England showed a worrying performance over Portugal in during England’s win in their final pre-Euro 2016 friendly at Wembley last night. Chris Smalling’s 86th-minute header ensured a 1-0 win over Portugal.
England struggled to create clear scoring chances against Portugal. The Portuguese side had to play with 10 men after Bruno Alves was shown a red for a high boot. Although England won the game, Mills was still not convinced with Roy Hodgson’s side.
The former defender told BBC Sport that they need to look at the positives, no injuries involved, clean and the win. He described England’s performance as “a worrying performance.” According to him, the team needs to be confident, bright and sharp, but unfortunately, for Hodgson’s men that never materialised.
Hodgson Explains Diamond Formation to Danny Mills
Hodgson defended the diamond formation by saying they have played with the diamond formation before and you need to split your strikers when playing with it. You will never be able to defend the wide areas if you put strikers down the middle and Wayne Rooney behind them.
According to Hodgson, their job is to split and come together on the field and he’s seen some moments where they were too wide.
Hodgson’s side needs to improve – Rooney
England captain, Wayne Rooney, who was replaced in the 78th minute by Adam Lallana, said his side struggled to split their opponents after Alve’s red card. Rooney told ITV Sport that Fernando Santos’ side made it difficult for their team but they kept going and managed to win. He further added that they win games when they are not playing well but they need to improve to win more games.
Match Highlight
- Bruno Alves was sent off in the first half for a rough tackle on Kane in the 55th-minute.
- Kane took a free kick to the right side of the area in the 65th-minute, unfortunately, he didn’t hit back of the net.
- Rooney and Kane were replaced by Sturridge and Lallana in the 78th-minute.
- Chris Smalling scored a winning goal by a header in 86th-minute.