IF you wonder why Gareth Southgate keeps sticking with his favourites, here was a reminder.
Anyone expecting any major surprises in England’s starting XI as we move closer to a major tournament next summer should forget it.
GettyOllie Watkins prods home from close range[/caption]
AFPThe Aston Villa striker is congratulated by his England team-mates[/caption]
There is absolutely no chance.
Southgate handed a Euro 2024 trial to a number of players last night but ended up with a lucky win thanks to a close-range second half goal by Ollie Watkins.
So against Italy in Tuesday’s qualifier we will see the return of the old guard including Harry Maguire, despite his woes at Manchester United.
Expect the same for the first game in Germany next June.
The Socceroos, the better team for the first half in particular, will feel aggrieved at failing to deliver another shock similar to the one they managed at West Ham’s Upton Park 20 years ago.
The Aussies won 3-1 with Sven Goran Eriksson changing his entire starting XI at half time.
Gareth Southgate, limited to six subs, must have wished he could have done the same after an abysmal opening 45 minutes.
Sam Johnstone did okay in goal, pulling off one decent save, but Trent-Alexander-Arnold, Fikayo Tomori and new boy Levi Colwill did not cover themselves in glory at the back.
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The same goes for midfielders Conor Gallagher, James Maddison and Jarrod Bowen as they hardly pressed their claims for a start in the games that actually matter.
Even more worrying was that both Jordan Henderson and Jack Grealish suffered totally forgettable nights. They will both have to do a bit better than this if they are given another chance against Italy in Tuesday’s qualifier.
It was certainly a woeful night for ex-Liverpool captain Henderson who looked off the pace and was the next player to get the Maguire treatment.
It was his first game on British soil since taking the Saudi millions to link up with Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq and was booed loudly when replaced by Kieran Trippier in the 62nd minute.
Surely, it was not much of a surprise. He received a hell of a lot of criticism for moving to a country with such a poor human rights record and despite only receiving a few jeers when he first touched the ball, he got it both barrels when being substituted.
With Harry Kane rested, Henderson was wearing the captain’s armband last night but funnily enough, it was not a rainbow one.
More worrying for England was Henderson’s actual performance which was poor. Southgate had been curious to see what sort of shape he would be in for these two games after having spent two months in the Middle East, where he has been playing in front of tiny crowds, including one less than 1000.
Not that James Maddison, enjoying a terrific start to the season with Spurs, was any better. After being stuck out on the left against Ukraine, he was handed his more favoured role as number 10 but made little impact.
ReutersJames Maddison was in action for his country[/caption]
GettyJordan Henderson was booed by the Wembley crowd[/caption]
His only memorable moment was by delivering the worst shot of the season so far when slipping on the drenched surface and his strike went out for a throw, level with the 18-yard areas.
To prove how inexperienced the squad was Henderson, with 78 appearances for England, he had six caps less than the other 10 players all put together.
Palace keeper Johnstone sprang to the rescue with a flying save following a decent shot by Keanu Baccus which took a deflection off Tomori.
Yet Johnstone was then thankful that Mitchell Duke’s sweely-struck shot grazed the side of the post and Kyle Rowles stuck the ball over the bar when he should have scored.
And the biggest let off came just before the break when Lewis Dunk delivered a goal-line block to deny Ryan Strain from scoring after Colwill, again, was caught out of position.
Although it was a friendly, the match itself was not totally friendly. There was some argy-bargy between Colwill and Keanu Baccus with referee Stephanie Frappart, the first woman to officiate a men’s international at Wembley, stepping in to stop the flashpoint from getting out of hand.
England’s only chance of the first half was when Maddison sent Watkins clear but after rounding keeper Maty Ryan, the Villa striker fired a shot against the foot of the post.
Yet Watkins did manage his third goal in eight caps with an easy tap-in following a scuffed shot by Grealish.
That was Grealish’s last kick of the ball, as Southgate brought on Marcus Rashford, Kieran Trippier, the fit-again John Stones and Kalvin Phillips, who must be wondering what on earth he has done wrong not to get a start.
Eddie Nketiah was handed a debut but it was Australia who nearly levelled with Connor Metcalfe left unmarked at a corner to head against the post.
Ultimately, though, everyone left Wembley extremely unimpressed and left in no doubt that Bayern Munich need to look after Kane.
Because if he gets injured, as proved by last night’s dreadful attacking performance, we really are stuffed.
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