SLOPPY ERRORS SPOIL NIGHT

THIS is an exciting period for England but sloppy errors blotted what should have been a positive performance. They have to get the balance right between attack and defence and protect their goal better. In possession, this is as good as any England team I can remember watching. Ross Barkley is so gifted technically. Right foot, left foot, his movement off the ball is superb and Gareth Southgate clearly trusts him. Raheem Sterling is approaching world-class status. Jadon Sancho started ahead of Marcus Rashford and played with that freedom of movement which has become synonymous with Southgate’s 4-3-3 set-up. Yet there remain serious questions defensively. In the first minute, Michael Keane made a sloppy pass in defence and England were punished. Early in the second half, Declan Rice made a sloppy pass in midfield and they were punished. Then Harry Maguire made an unnecessary challenge on Vedat Muriqi, gave away a penalty, and they were punished. Southgate will want to get rid of this mindset of sloppiness that seems to have crept in. Say hello to what could be england’s three-man midfield for euro 2020 — Jordan henderson, Declan Rice and Ross Barkley.

They were given the nod against Kosovo, just as they were against Bulgaria. had Gareth Southgate made wholesale changes from Saturday’s win at Wembley, you would have thought he was still experimenting. The fact he didn’t suggests these players are ahead of the rest in the pecking order.

Rice perhaps went into this as the man under the most pressure to prove worthy of being a starter but for the fourth goal, the West ham man showed what he is about, winning the ball back in midfield, allowing england to break at speed and score. There is still room for improvement, however, as he gave the ball away in the build-up to Kosovo’s second goal.

It will be up to James Maddison, Mason Mount, harry Winks and anyone else who wants to start to