England’s strength from set-pieces shows they can score against sides who attempt to frustrate them, says Dennis Wise.
Harry Kane’s two goals in England’s 2-1 win over Tunisia in their opening World Cup Group G game on Monday came from set plays, with Harry Maguire and John Stones in particular causing a nuisance in the opposition box.
Wise, speaking on Sky Sports News, was pleased that England can show their strength in scoring different types of goals in different situations.
“Gareth Southgate is obviously working on set plays, and we scored two from set plays tonight. We’ve never really been like that,” he said.
“In open play we can create chances, as we showed, but when teams are making it difficult for you, closing gaps, we are actually now causing problems at set-plays, which is important.
“The set-plays tonight were spot on, creating a lot of chances. It’s pleasing that we can score in different ways. We’ve done really well tonight, I’m pleased for them.”
Wise insists England’s team morale appears to be high, with Kane netting in the 91st minute as Southgate’s side stuck to their guns with patience late on in Volgograd.
“I think they are a very close-knit group of boys, with some very young players,” Wise said. “They have nine under 25. It’s important they are close-knit, and tonight proved they work hard for each other, created chances and deserved the win in the end.
“It’s nice to get off to a wonderful start, you’ve seen some of the teams around the tournament who haven’t started as they’d like to; Germany, Argentina and Brazil.
“But we have, and against a tough, frustrating Tunisian team who made it very difficult in the second half. But we dug in there and got the result we deserved.”
England had been criticised in recent tournaments for panicking late in games, but former England midfielder Wise says patience was shown in abundance.
“They were patient in the second half. It was frustrating, Tunisia were slow in getting up, wasting times, but England didn’t just lump it,” he added.
“They could have easily gone bang up to Marcus Rashford and Kane, but they came back, out and wide, back into the middle, and were patient.
“What’s happened tonight is good, because they’re learning quickly, and it’s important. Certain teams will frustrate them, and they have to react. They were patient and got the reward.”
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Sourse: skysports.com
