Five things we learned from England vs Switzerland

Five things we learned from England vs Switzerland

5. Danny Welbeck IS a striker

If it wasn’t obvious already, new Arsenal recruit Danny Welbeck is a striker. His brace last night proved that if the Gunners play the former Manchester United man in his preferred position as a central striker; he will get on the end of chances. Mind you, for a career that has seen him play out wide more often than not for England, Welbeck has still notched 10 goals in 28 games, not bad going. The composure he showed to arc around the ball for his second goal shows that the clinical instinct a regular goal scorer needs is well and truly there.

4. Jack Wilshere needs time to get used to a deeper role

Ok, so we won the game fairly convincingly in the end, but the main concern watching the match was Jack Wilshere not getting on the ball enough. His positional sense on and off the ball was a little bit lacking, resulting in England struggling to penetrate the Swiss from a deeper position. But in a new system for Wilshere, the fact England were never really over run in midfield bodes well. Just a little bit of tweeking here and there and a review of the match should show Wilshere where he should have been in contrast to where he was.

3. The FIFA rankings stand for diddly squat

Does anyone actually pay that much attention to the rankings?

Switzerland are ranked ninth in the world, England are 20th. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes shock results do happen and the underdog prevails, but in the case of the FIFA rankings I’m afraid it just doesn’t make sense. Switzerland are the ninth best team in the world at this present time? Don’t make me laugh. They have two or three international players who have carried them to some very decent results in recent times, but that doesn’t in my eyes warrant a top ten ranking. They currently stand above Italy, Portugal, France and are only one place behind Spain and Brazil, which makes a complete farce of the system.

2. Playing for a team outside the top four doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play for your country.

Take a bow Fabian Delph. The Aston Villa midfielder last night proved to Roy Hodgson, the FA and the watching public that just because you don’t play for one of the ‘fashionable teams’ doesn’t mean you can’t have an impact at international level. For the first 15 minutes or so he looked nervous and eager to please, picking up an early yellow card which could have been a disaster. But the 24-year-old former Leeds United man composed himself and had a positive impact on the game, with great energy and a fine touch that looked like it had graced the England team for many years, despite being his first start for the Three Lions. I guess the only problem now for Villa fans is that a top four club will probably come sniffing.

1.  Joe Hart is back in form

The England stopper came in for some criticism last season and rightly so. His performances for both the national team and Manchester City were at an all time low and talk of complacency was setting in. City boss Manuel Pellegrini dropped Hart for a number of games and this seems to have sorted him out. No longer does he seem scared to claim a ball, for fear of dropping it. No longer does he seem small in one on one situations. Last night he commanded his area and made two vital stops, which were just as important as goals. His back four at times looked a little off the pace but Hart put in a performance that we all know he is capable of and for me he was man of the match, although Mr Welbeck may have something to say about that.