‘England can’t afford to waste that many chances again’, warns former manager Sam Allardyce
Former boss admits he was left 'worried' by the Three Lions' wastefulness in their 2-1 win over Tunisia
Sam Allardyce has told England to get their shooting boots on after their last-gasp victory over Tunisia in Monday’s World Cup opener.
The former Three Lions manager admits he was left ‘worried’ by the team’s lack of quality in front of goal, as they wasted a host a great chances to score before Harry Kane came to the rescue in a 2-1 win.
England’s World Cup captain scored a goal in each half, winning the game with a stoppage-time header, after a controversial Tunisia penalty cancelled out the Tottenham striker’s earlier finish.
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Gareth Southgate’s side were dominant throughout the Volgograd clash, but were frustrated in the box as the likes of Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Rahmeem Sterling and John Stones missed glorious opportunities to add to the scoreline.
And former England boss Allardyce has warned the team they cannot afford to be as wasteful in front of goal again as they aim to make the last-16.
Giving his verdict on Tuesday’s Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, Big Sam said: “The first half performance, while I thought it was very good, I got slightly worried about the lack of finishing quality with the amount of quality chances we created.
“Both of our goals came off corners, which is a great asset to have, but the goals have to be scored in open play.
“At this level, you can’t afford to miss those chances. They fell to Alli, Lingard and Sterling, to all the goalscorers, and we still couldn’t put them in. They need to put that right.
“They made hard work of it but they got what they deserved, they got the win and they can move forward.”
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A draw would have been a potentially damaging result for England, but Big Sam believes the last-gasp win has put them on course for the knock-out stages ahead of their next clash against minnows Panama.
Allardyce added: “England completely dominated the game and we’ve seen a lot of big teams who haven’t performed as well as England at the start of this tournament, so let’s hope they grow into it.
“I don’t see them having any problems against Panama, so for me, that victory has put us through the group.”
Listen to Sam Allardyce on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast IN FULL above!