The Aaron Ramsey header in Israel was clinical.
The first goal is vital in any game, especially an away Qualifier – and Ramsey got it in the 45th minute.
Powerhouse Gareth Bale scored two and made the first by heading on a ball which Ramsey headed in.
What do we mean by clinical? I suppose I mean composed in the moment of contact, expecting to score, knowing where the ball should go and making sure it goes there.
As expected, England beat Lithuania 4-0.
Hodgson took Rooney off at in 71 and brought on man-of-the-moment Harry Kane.
That was the main fact of Friday night’s match :The England manager didn’t start Kane and Rooney together. Amazingly, he put the kid on for his debut as a sub when he took off his captain.
So Harry Kane didn’t even get a cameo in Wayne’s World.
But he did score with his third touch, a header in 73 minutes.
He’d been on the pitch for 79 seconds .
Hodgson said Kane was on the bench because of his successful 4-3-3 system, with Sterling and Welbeck wide. Which suits Rooney.
Welbeck is Wayne’s mate, looks up to him, always passes to him, always makes a run for him.
England was Wayne’s World long before he was given the armband
The incessant media narrative is now: Can Rooney beat Bobby Charlton’s 49-goal record?
That’s the most boring non-story since the late Seventies, when it was: Will Birmingham wonder-kid Trevor Francis become the first £1m footballer?
The papers went on and on and on about that.
Then charismatic Nottingham Forest boss Brian Clough signed Francis in February ‘79 and Forest won two European Cup Finals on the bounce in 1979 and 1980.
Hodgson said he was protecting Kane from hysteria and that kind of thinking usually makes sense.
But maybe he was protecting Kane from Rooney. Because everybody has to pass to Wayne, especially now, so he can break Bobby’s record.
Pecking order is a huge thing in a football.
My view? It’s player-power.
Pecking order blocks new talent and prevents progress.
We saw that with Sven, a groupie who was given three tournaments