But after substitute Theo Walcott was denied a late victor by the offside flag, Lallana struck his first global goal to break the hearts of the home side and give England a positive start in their qualification campaign for the 2018 tournament in Russian Federation.
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“It was pretty nerve-racking at the end because the 10-men scenario meant we had to win”, Allardyce said. They [Slovakia] are going to try that bit harder [against England], they’re going to defend that bit longer, but I thought we got what we deserved.
Allardyce, nicknamed “Big Sam”, succeeded Roy Hodgson after England’s humiliating Euro 2016 elimination by Iceland.
Allardyce, meanwhile, revealed that he will keep a coin handed to him by a disabled supporter yesterday morning, insisting that it brought him luck on his debut as England manager.
Which leads us to ask, if Allardyce doesn’t think that telling his selected players where to play is within the England manager’s remit, then what exactly does he think the job entails?
Given that Wayne Rooney first scored for England at 17 and Theo Walcott had bagged a hat-trick by the age of 19, 28-year-old Lallana is a late developer and he has long acknowledged that he has not scored enough goals, for England or Liverpool.
However, due to Rooney’s deeper positioning, Harry Kane struggled for support in the final third and failed to wreak havoc in the opposition penalty area.
Lallana, who went goalless in his first 26 appearances under Roy Hodgson, was glad to be off the mark after nearly three years of trying.
However, the comments made by Allardyce both confused and anxious some England fans, who took to Twitter to vent their concerns.
Slovakia captain Skrtel – who had been booked in the first half for throwing an arm at Kane – was shown a second yellow after stamping all over the Tottenham striker’s calf. Ten goals in 60 games and now one in 27 for England is not the return expected of a senior creative player.
England has the early edge in Group F after Slovenia fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Lithuania.
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“When you score in the last few seconds it’s a good feeling, I had one in the Premier League last season against Norwich, which was also nice”, he said.
