Guts return to Hodgson’s Three Lions, though room for improvement

England, in the end, made Switzerland look like a Rolex watch in a digital age. Granted, the Swiss weren’t at their most cutting edge, however, there are enough positives to take out of this 2-0 win for the Three Lions to take into the next game, being priced odds-on at 2/7 to win Group E.

The opening two minutes saw Fabian Delph, on his debut, win the ball at his combative best and initiate interplay with Leighton Baines and Wayne Rooney in the left channel. An area, going forward, when familiarity forms that could become a combination for England that is successful.

Although Delph was caught in possession, after a hospital pass from Jack Wilshere, his chase back embodied the passion England have been missing in that position since fellow former Leeds United player David Batty. He didn’t reclaim the ball, instead bringing down his opponent and conceding a foul for his efforts, as well as a yellow card.

However, in just 15 short minutes, the robust Aston Villa midfielder demonstrated to Roy Hodgson that he can be the solidity of England’s diamond formation for years to come.

In life, things aren’t complicated, they’re just made complicated by life forms known as humans. In football, to play a diamond, it takes the knowledge to understand just what the characteristics of a diamond actually are, in its simplest form.

Without a doubt, it is the hardest known natural material on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness and, whether deliberate or otherwise, Delph embodies that characteristic. It is no coincidence that he has had the benefit of Roy Keane’s wisdom on the training ground at Villa this term.

Keane himself was like what carbon was to steel. Aided on the other side by Jordan Henderson, the Liverpool player embodied a diamond’s durability, Jack Wilshere added gloss to the performance, while Raheem Sterling sparkled at the tip.

There were, however, occasions in the first half, when England’s performance became sloppier, courtesy of poor decision making. Wilshere’s beautifully delivered ball from the edge of the area over the top for Wayne Rooney to run onto had the nation screaming ‘shoot’ first time, Marco van Basten style. Perhaps a lack of confidence swayed him, and his resulting attempt to control the ball failed.