Analysis: England

England set up in their familiar 3-1-4-2 shape, again varied by the positioning of full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Danny Rose. Eric Dier played as the central player in front of the back three, while attacking midfielders Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Fabian Delph operated largely within the half spaces. Marcus Rashford and Danny Welbeck led the line, but both regularly dropped in to create the extra man in midfield.

The in-possession strategy was unclear and ultimately unsuccessful over the 90 minutes, as England struggled to create many clear-cut chances. In the build-up phase, the ball-side attacking midfielder would regularly drop deep to help with the penetration of the first two lines – but, as was the case in the defeat to Spain, the angles and body positions taken up here only really allowed for backward passes. This strategy works fine when playing back to a forward-facing player who can break the next line with the pass, but too often this wasn’t the case for England here. A limited number of available options and poor technique in the pass cast serious doubts on the quality of their build.

They displayed a preference for the left side when attacking, with Rose and Harry Maguire often pushing high up the pitch while Delph offered cover – although Delph would join if Maguire didn’t move forward. England’s main threat arose from their work in wide areas, but a combined lack of creativity and end product in the final third led to a frustrating evening all round despite the victory.

Out of possession, Gareth Southgate’s men worked in a 5-3-2, with Alexander-Arnold and Rose tucking in with the back three, while Delph, Dier and Loftus-Cheek would try to remain compact and well-positioned to cover the ground as quickly as possible. Rashford, as against Spain, was tasked with another man-marking job – this time, trying to prevent Granit Xhaka from getting on the ball in the build-up phase.

The 20-year-old was largely effective in his role, but there were several occasions in the latter stages of the first half where he instead joined Welbeck in pressing the back three – this then left a clear passing line through to Xhaka, who was able to get on the ball and turn with ease. Noticing this, Southgate tasked Loftus-Cheek (later Jesse Lingard) with preventing Xhaka from gaining possession in the second half – this freed Rashford up to join Welbeck (later Harry Kane) in the front line, as England looked to increase the aggression of their press.

It was important for the hosts to return to winnings ways after consecutive losses to Croatia, Belgium and most recently Spain, but it was an unconvincing display that will raise concerns about the depth of the squad. Southgate will have been impressed by the performances of some of his players – Rose, Alexander-Arnold and Rashford – but few genuinely staked their claim to a future place in the head coach’s preferred starting XI.