England Frailties in 2 - 0 Victory over Poland must Overshadow Unrealistic World Cup Aspirations

    If statistics are used, England’s win over Poland looks a comprehensive victory, but it could have been a disaster. At 0-0 Poland countered from an England corner and the usually clinical Robert Lewandowski fired wide after England were dissected with frightful ease. Had Poland taken the lead, a calamitous draw might have been achieved by the visitors. Fortunately Poland were wasteful, and Joe Hart did enough to deny Lewandowski in the second half and keep things in England’s favour. This is a relatively poor Poland side, evidenced by the fact ITV pundits covering the match had only heard of Arsenal’s Szczesny, and Borussia Dortmund’s Blaszczykowski and Lewandowski. These are the only high profile players Poland had at their disposal. 

However, had it been a top international force with a ruthless contingent of players, England would’ve been punished for their ill-discipline. In Bleumfontaine during the 4-1 humbling by Germany in the 2010 World Cup, England were ripped apart by a team who know how to counter-attack and feed on any scraps provided to devastating effect. Any talk of a victorious England return from Brazil is unrealistic, reaching the quarter final stage should be seen as a step in the right direction for a transitional national team. 

written by Richard Jaffa