Canada, England take the route most boring en route to Women's World Cup quarterfinals

OTTAWA – Ambling, rambling, bound for nowhere. Gazing out the grubby window, I see nothing but different shades of the same colour. Green. And overhead, ominous grey clouds move in.

My mind wanders to Monday’s clash between Norway and England. I was irritated at the full-time whistle. The result was never in doubt once an unlikely hero – fullback Karen Bronze - whipped a superb, curling strike inside the near post to complete the turnaround. By that stage, the Scandinavians were weary and confused. They had controlled the game, created plenty of chances and had tried to open up the opposition. They had played offensive soccer. And yet, such an approach was crushed by English pragmatism.

It said much that during the first half, a Norwegian journalist turned to me and enquired about England's aerial abilities, their physicality under a high ball. They were robust and aggressive and their two centre backs, Steph Houghton and Laura Bassett, epitomized the retro feel to the side. Lacking in technical ability, the emphasis is on spirit, character and digging deep and the warrior code that's so indelibly linked to old-school Britain. The battle. Never give an inch, work hard, blood, sweat and tears. It's very noble but very outdated. Or so I thought.

Such a philosophy has got England to the quarter-finals of a World Cup. Next up is Canada in Vancouver. And it promises to be a grind. For two sides ranked in FIFA’s top 10, they've both been frustratingly boring at this tournament. And what's more intriguing is their respective coaches are young, intelligent men and well-read students of the game. Mark Sampson is just 32, younger than some of the English players. He oversaw a qualification campaign that yielded over 50 goals in 10 games. Things were good. And then there was a heavy friendly defeat to Germany last November and Sampson began to rethink things.

In their opening game against France, they offered nothing. The soggy, murky conditions in Moncton that afternoon seemed to perfectly reflect the English performance. Almost insultingly, there was little Gallic arrogance or flair on show. The French never had to go beyond second gear. It was that easy. The English were that passive. But Sampson took a risk in the following game – the must-win clash with Mexico – introducing the sprightly and spunky Fran Kirby into the lineup. And she provided the much-needed spark, scoring a wonderful individual goal with 20 minutes left to break the deadlock. It was England's only moment of true inspiration at this tournament until Bronze stepped up against Norway.

Maybe it's harsh but there's been a steady pattern to England's goals. Against Colombia, a free kick was fumbled and Karen Carney turned the rebound to the net. The second goal was a penalty. Against Norway, the game-changing moment was Houghton's equalizer – a back-post header from a corner. By that stage of the game, Kirby, who tried to make something happen whenever she took possession of the ball and put the Norwegians on the back foot with her directness, had been replaced. Sampson wanted more toughness, more resilience and introduced Jill Scott instead.

And here's the thing; Sampson was proved correct. Scott's presence did unsettle Norway. They relaxed. Their attitude and intensity dropped immediately after scoring. And they conceded just seven minutes later. From there, they couldn't get it back. They grew frustrated. Instead of playing their own game and finding pockets of space to exploit, they thumped long balls forward. It was desperate. And as soon as that started to happen, you knew the game was over for them.

And I was irritated. As I trudged to the post-game press conference, I thought of England's approach. They started with five across midfield and Toni Duggan isolated in attack. They had little interest in opening up the Norwegians. They sat back and absorbed. They coughed up chances and were fortunate to be level at halftime. Their equalizer came from a corner, out of the blue. In one strange instant, they were back in the game and only then did they begin to express themselves. And I thought of the game plan. What was it? At the beginning, it was clear: be defensive, shut down the Norway attack, maybe get lucky and find a goal from a set piece. But ultimately, that same strategy never changed, even when they were in front. And it doesn't sit well with me.

Of course, that matters little. England are through. Canada are through. The neat, technically-minded Norwegians are gone. The emphasis, always, is on the result. Nothing much matters anymore. Not the performance, not the mindset, not the philosophy. Prior to Monday’s clash, English midfielder Fara Williams spoke about Sampson and his approach:

“Some people say he is like Jose Mourinho in the way that he likes to win games, no matter how he wins them. He wants to win every game he goes into. He wants to win them whether they are ugly or pretty, regardless of whether we have 70 per cent possession or 20 per cent possession.

“Every game we go into he wants us to find a way of winning and that’s something that Jose Mourinho does."

Maybe it's just me but there's something disappointing in a 32-year-old international coach, a well-respected figure, an educated soccer man, focusing on winning and nothing else. Earlier in the tournament I sat in Montreal's imposing Stade Olympique and watched a Netherlands side qualify for the knockout stages of their very first Women's World Cup. And there was something exciting about the way they played. The goalkeeper passed to the centre back. She passed to the fullback. She passed it to the central midfielder. It went to the centre back again. And it was about finding space. But the right kind of space. It was patient.

The players made mistakes. They miscontrolled sometimes, the passes were under-hit or wayward sometimes. But it was part of the process. The mistakes, it seemed, were encouraged. After all, it's how you get better. That night, the Netherlands deserved to beat the Canadians, who bored their way through the majority of the evening. When the game finished 1-1 and the Dutch progressed, I felt good about where the tournament was headed.

Now, I'm not so sure. There's a time and place for pragmatism. Mourinho will tell you that. He'll easily point to the glorious, game-changing attackers he relies on to win him games. Though his defence and midfield dig in, stand firm and get behind a ball, his teams have always carried more than a sprinkling of stardust in the final third. He always seeks to open up space for his special players to excel.

Going by the form book, Japan will beat the Netherlands in the final group of 16 game. On Friday, one of Germany and France will be out, too. And as the weekend rolls around, the tournament could look very grey indeed.

And as I gaze out the grubby window again, the drops of rain make it hard to see clearly.