Overall, we’ re going to say that was a bit less fun than the 6-2 win over Iran. But apparently that’s not even one conclusion, never mind 16, so here’s another 2500 words about England 0-0 USA…
1. Let’s get this out of the way first, because it is quite important. That is a perfectly adequate result for England, who now need only avoid a four-goal (or absurdly high-scoring three-goal) defeat in the final game against Wales to go through.
It arguably doesn’t even really matter whether they win the group. Nobody in Group A looks that good either and finishing second does at least take you out of France’s quarter and into what is technically Argentina’s and thus could be against Mexico or Poland or Denmark or anyone. Might be 2018 all over again, lads.
2. Now we’ve been given strict instructions from the boss not to turn 16 Conclusions into a hatchet job on Sam Matterface, because we did that once before and it got unpleasant. What we will say as a general point is that it shouldn’t have taken 90 minutes for Matterface and Lee Dixon to tell viewers the specifics from point one above. It really is the headline news of the evening.
Dixon spent much of the second half quite rightly pointing out that a draw wasn’t a bad result, just he was giving the wrong reasons. His argument was that it was an okay result because there’s still another game to go. He and Matterface should have been saying “It’s not a bad result because it almost certainly puts England through.” Qualification scenarios feel like quite an important part of tournament narrative, and we’re still not getting informed coverage on it from broadcasters until far later in the piece than we should be. Much of what England and Southgate did tonight was still deeply annoying and conservative but placed fully in context it does make a bit more sense.
3. We’re also not going to say anything at all about England producing thrilling, free-flowing 6-2 wins on BBC and drab 0-0s on ITV. We’re better than that. I’m not, though. This was the sixth match I’ve covered for the site in this tournament and the fourth goalless draw. I’ve looked at the schedule – Serbia v Cameroon looks a game to avoid if you’re hoping for goals, goals, goals. Fair warning.
4. This England performance was an absolute stinker, though. No bones about it. Was it complacency? Energy conservation? Just plain old weariness for an unsurprisingly unchanged starting XI? Perhaps nobody…
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