England 3 Bosnia & Herzegovina 0 – Kieran Trippier and the B team get the job done | OneFootball

England 3 Bosnia & Herzegovina 0 – Monday 3 June 7.45pm

Gareth Southgate will be happy with the eventual outcome and performance the last half hour, however, the opening 60 minutes were pretty poor.

As expected, it was pretty much an England B team on show, with so many of the usual first choice players missing.

Friday at Wembley against Iceland was always going to be when we’re set to see a side more reminiscent of the one that will start against Serbia in 12 days time.

To be honest, it was very similar to many England games, especially other friendlies, even when the first eleven are playing. As England struggled to break down an opposition that offered pretty much nothing going forward, Bosnia & Herzegovina having zero shots on or off target and only four touches in the England penalty area all game.

Whilst Bosnia & Herzegovina were physical and the referee very lenient at times, Gareth Southgate will be especially disappointed with Watkins, who looked lacking in physical strength when trying to protect the ball in forward positions.

Likewise, the attacking players generally getting rare chances also struggled most of the time, rarely able to create much in that first hour against poor opposition.

Kieran Trippier was captain for the night and the Newcastle United star had a good game at left-back, he was one of five changes Gareth Southgate made just after the hour mark and England having gone a goal up at last.

Southgate confirmed after the match that all substitutions had been tactical and giving others minutes, with no injuries reported.

Konsa was fouled when England put a corner in the box and it was Cole Palmer who scored from the spot (penalty given after VAR review) to at last give the St James’ Park crowd something to cheer.

Whilst it was dubious that England deserved such a winning margin, I was really pleased for the fans who stayed until the final whistle and saw Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Kane each score in the last five minutes.

The weather played its part as well for the occasion and the first England international played at St James’ Park in two decades eventually delivered in that final half hour.

Job done and no injuries for Gareth Southgate.

England 3 Bosnia & Herzegovina 0 – Monday 3 June 7.45pm

Goals:

England:

Palmer pen 60, Alexander-Arnold 85, Kane 89

Bosnia:

Possession was Bosnia 30% England 70%

Shots off target were Bosnia 0 England 5

Shots on target were Bosnia 0 England 8

Blocked shots were Bosnia 1 England 12

Corners were Bosnia 2 England 11

Touches in the box Bosnia 4 England 46

England team v Bosnia & Herzegovina:

Pickford; Konsa, Dunk (Gomez 73), Guéhi (Branthwaite 62), Trippier (Wharton 62); Alexander-Arnold, Gallagher; Bowen, Palmer (Maddison 61), Eze (Grealish 63); Watkins (Kane 62)

England related dates coming up:

Friday 7 June

England v Iceland – Friendly

Friday 7 2024 – The very final deadline for Gareth Southgate and the other national managers to name their official squads for the European Championships.

Friday 14 June 2024 – European Championship 2024 finals  in Germany kick-off

Sunday 16 June

England v Serbia – Euros Group match

Thursday 20 June

England v Denmark – Euros Group match

Tuesday 25 June