It is difficult to imagine Roy Hodgson learnt too much about his England side from a disappointing friendly. The most interesting area of the side, however, was in central midfield, where Hodgson fielded Jack Wilshere, Jordan Henderson and James Milner.

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Wilshere occupied the deepest role, the position he has often played for England since the retirement of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard after last summer’s World Cup. While sometimes this has been as part of a midfield diamond, here it was at the base of a triangle in a 4-3-3.

Wilshere was usually the English midfielder in space, and took advantage of this freedom to shuttle forward in possession, typically looking for quick one-twos with players in more advanced positions. A couple of these sudden darts offered rare moments of excitement, and there was also a superb diagonal ball towards Ryan Bertrand’s overlapping run midway through the first half.

Wilshere’s tendency to storm forward meant one of the other midfielders dropped in to cover. Henderson and Milner – now Liverpool team-mates – showed good understanding to hold their position as England’s midfield trio temporarily flipped, and it has become increasingly common to see such fluidity from Hodgson’s side. For a manager who has generally based his teams around structured formations and two banks of four, it marks a significant change in approach.

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That fluidity is vital considering Wilshere, Henderson and Milner are not naturals together in a midfield trio. They are reasonably similar footballers, box-to-box midfielders who primarily offer the ability to get up and down the pitch regularly. Ideally one would be used in conjunction with a genuine playmaker and a natural defensive midfielder, but England lack options in the centre.

Defensively, they are not perfect. All three like to press opponents, which can be useful: Henderson’s closing down created England’s best chance, early in the second half, when he dispossessed Marc Wilson then squared for Wayne Rooney, whose horrendous first touch bobbled into the arms of the Ireland goalkeeper Keiren Westwood.

But with even Wilshere always wanting to move up the pitch into challenges, England’s defence wasn’t protected as keenly as Hodgson would have liked. A more disciplined, experienced holding player such as Michael Carrick, unavailable through injury, would provide more support for the defence.

This will be particularly important against opposition of a higher quality in a more high-tempo match– especially teams playing with quality attacking midfielders. The trip to Slovenia next Sunday, against a team possessing genuine midfield creativity in the shape of Fiorentina’s Josip Ilicic and Dortmund’s Kevin Kampl, will be a tougher test.