Sam Allardyce says that breaking teams down will be England’s biggest challenge in 2018 World Cup qualifying.
The Three Lions had to wait until deep into injury time to seal their campaign-opening victory over Slovakia, and new manager Allardyce expects upcoming opponents to put up a similar level of resistance.
“I think everybody will be a big challenge,” he said.
“It appears to me that our games will be spent trying to break these teams down, and when that happens it does become very difficult – and particularly frustrating for the fans
“We’ve got to not allow that frustration to develop into our game.
“So I think that breaking down the wall or the barriers that are going to be put up over the qualifiers is going to be our main aim.”
Watch FATV's highlights from England's win over Slovakia in Trnava
Of England’s performance in Slovakia, Allardyce added: “It was total domination, and a complete overrunning of a team that was playing at home with a fantastic home record and had beaten Spain recently on their patch 2-1.
“But the cutting edge was just missing. And that came about with the problem of having to score in the last minute, which was obviously vital.
“Really the score should have been a lot more, should have been a lot bigger, so it just looks like a carry-over from the Euros, where our attempts at goal were extremely high but our conversion rate has diminished somewhat.
“Everything else was fantastic, just the cutting edge and the final finish eluded us”
Sam Allardyce
“And I think that area is where I need to focus on the most. Everything else was fantastic, just the cutting edge and the final finish eluded us.
“I think with 20 attempts at goal, in an international if you're having that many attempts at goal you should be scoring two or three.”
Next up for the Three Lions is a home clash with group outsiders Malta, with Allardyce warning supporters not to expect a walk-over.
He explained: “I think the atmosphere is electric when the place is full – they lift the roof off, the England fans. I think what we have to do is try and live up to their expectation.
“Unfortunately their expectation will be 10-0. I’m not so sure we’ll get anywhere near that, but since Scotland beat them 5-1 in the last game, albeit when they were only playing against nine men, their expectations have gone up since Scotland beat them by 5.
“So we have to live with that and try and deliver the best we possibly can. But I’d expect Malta to put up a defensive resilience that we have to try and break down.”
Malta visit Wembley on Saturday 8 October (kick-off: 5pm) and tickets are on general sale, with prices starting at just £20 for adults and £10 for under-16s. Book at TheFA.com/Tickets now!
