The everyday lives of people in England are full of day to day stresses. Jobs, money and the growing number of closing pubs just to name a few and football should be a release, something to take our minds away to distance places, or at least it should be when you play Montenegro.
But lo and behold, it's happened again, a dour calender year of onfield England performances has once again meant an underacheiving performance against a side made up of journeyman from clubs in Poland, Hungary and the Spanish second division. No disrespect is intended to players and clubs from those leagues but when you come up against the cream of the Enlgish Premier League results should be a little bit different. Not to say it was all bad though, just most of it.
Though I make points along the lines of Montenegro are rubbish and should be brushed aside I do actually know thet they are a fairly decent team. Indeed, they have started the qualification campaign well, beating Wales, Bulgaria and, most impressively, Switzerland. They do also possess players that can change games at the drop of a hat, namely Simon Vukcevic of Sporting Lisbon and Mirko Vucinic of Roma. Tonight though Vucinic wasn't playing, meaning Montenegro went on the defensive, playing five men across midfield and keeping things tight.
Their technical ability should be commented on, however, as they looked comfortable in possession in the middle third of the field, that is, when they had the ball of course. And that was the tale of the night, the visitors keeping things closed up at the back and resisting, with ease, an England attack that failed to have a sting in it's tail. But Montenegro are no mugs and as the game went on you felt they would get at least one chance, and my, how it nearly resulted in a goal. Milan Jovanovic drove a volley towards the England goal, dipping at the last minute before rattling Joe Hart's crossbar. It was a lucky escape for England but unfortuneatley they were unable to capitalise on the let off in the dieing minutes.
Few oppurtunities came the way of England in the first half but there were two openings and another incident that could have given them the lead. First of all Wayne Rooney drove a shot into the outstretched right arm of Montengrin keeper Mladen Bozovic after the ball had broken to him in the penalty area. Late on a Rooney knock down fell at the feet of Gareth Barry who forced the ball towards the bottom corner, only to find the hands of Bozovic once again. But the moment of controversy came when a ball into the area looked as if it had come off of the arm of Jovanovic, only for referee Manuel Grafe and his assistant to ignore the shouts and let the game go on. Replays showed the defender had controlled the ball with his arm and so England can consider themselves slightly unlucky.
The overall performance, however, didn't deserve any luck, defenders being drawn into the easy option of long balls into Peter Crouch far too often and while Steven Gerrard was playing some exquisite passes, he was sat in a very deep central role when his presence in a higher position on the pitch would have given England a bit of extra bite.
The highlights of the night, though, were the dipslays of the two England wide men, Ashley Young on the left and Adam Johnson on the right. Both were playing with their stronger feet on the inside of the pitch but Johnson especially took the chance to cut inside on numerous occasions, though he was unable to find anyone except defenders with his cutbacks. In the 74th minute Shaun Wright-Phillips came on in place of Young but he added little the cause and failed to impress in his 16 minute cameo.
There was also a moment to remember for fans of Bolton Wanderers as star striker Kevin Davies made his international debut, coming on in place of Peter Crouch. The Trotters hitman worked hard but found it difficult to get into the game, though his presence in the area did lead to Rooney's best chance of the match.
It was fairly physical out there, four home and five away players getting their names taken into the book by a German official who didn't have the best of games, pulling up players for the slightest of fouls.
Unimpressed England fans began leaving the match early, hoping to get away early before everyone else filed out to their cars, buses and trains. At both half time and the final whistle boos rang out around Wembley, reminiscent of the fans attitude after the Algeria game in the World Cup but whether or not the England players deserved such a cold reception is a personal matter on a night when they were left frustrated by a sturdy away defence.
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