In sharp contrast to their opening Group Stage clashes, England’s 1-0 defeat to Belgium on Thursday night didn’t give much cause for optimism.
There were mitigating factors, understandably, but if this was meant to be a chance for some of the players on the fringes of Gareth Southgate’s plans to push their way into the starting XI, very few of those rested will suffer sleepless nights ahead of the Three Lions’ knockout encounter with Colombia on Tuesday.
Following England’s first defeat at the World Cup, we asked supporters to give individual performance ratings for each of those involved. Here’s a rundown of the three players who disappointed England fans most, incurring the lowest average scores…
Fabian Delph – 4.7: Clearly a much worse fit for England’s roaming No.8 berths than Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, the versatile Manchester City ace struggled to make much of an impact going forward, hampering the Three Lions’ ability to stage counter-attacks from midfield. Delph does have a pretty solid excuse though in the form of the birth of his third child – he certainly seemed mentally preoccupied against Belgium.
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Jamie Vardy – 4.6: England’s scoreless performance against Belgium highlighted how one-dimensional the Leicester City striker can be at times. A frightening prospect for defenders when fed in behind, but Belgium’s back three comfortably defended those kinds of passes and Vardy didn’t have much else to offer. Neither he nor Marcus Rashford appeared particularly prepared to drop deep, although Vardy’s incisive one-two with the Manchester United youngster did create England’s best chance of the match.
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Phil Jones – 4.4: Probably the most agricultural defender in this England squad, and one that failed to produce a particularly menacing performance against Belgium. Jones was repeatedly beaten in the air by United team-mate Marouane Fellaini and lacked composure when the ball was inside England’s box. That being said, he still won the most headers and made the most clearances of any Three Lions player, so perhaps his average score of just 4.4 is a little harsh.
View the results in full below…