Gareth’s star trio can’t find their sparkle

THE second half had barely started when the conversation began. Steve Holland, England’s assistant head coach, shouted to Declan Rice and then began jabbering with Gareth Southgate. You did not need UEFA coaching badges to work out what was happening. England’s World Cup qualifier with Hungary was becoming more like a basketball game, a continuous motion of you attack, we attack and neither Southgate nor Holland liked what they saw. This had been the night when Southgate had decided to find a way of getting Phil Foden, Mason Mount and Jack Grealish into his starting XI but those who thought such a bold triumvirate would be the ticket for a magic carpet ride had not got what they had expected. On and on the discussion went until, just after the hour, Southgate had seen enough. Grealish — much to his obvious disappointment and irritation — was brought off and Bukayo Saka was introduced, England’s shape changed to 4-2-3-1 and a smattering of boos greeted the decision. We got a glimpse for 62 minutes and while not even their biggest fans would attempt to say that Foden, Grealish (right) and Mount enjoyed their best nights in an England shirt, you have to wonder when they will all be given the opportunity to begin again. And they must be given another opportunity. To abandon this project so swiftly, without even giving it 90 minutes, would be risible. Do we really believe a Ballon d’Or nominee, a £100million footballer and the PFA Young Player of the Year cannot play together? The snap judgment would be to say the system did not work and pin the blame on the manager for making the call. But Southgate cannot be deemed to be too cautious if he does not play all those forward thinking midfielders together and then branded too cavalier for unleashing them in a game that looked perfect to give this combination a chance. Sometimes there is a simple answer when things do not happen as you expect. It comes down to the players not playing as they should do, making the wrong decisions and falling short of their expected standards. This is football. This happens. ‘I don’t think we should look at individuals,’ said Southgate. ‘Collectively we didn’t perform at the level we should have.’

That is putting it bluntly. This was a difficult watch for long parts, an evening soured by the sight of baton-wielding policemen battling with Hungarian bigots. We could have done with some football to stir the spirits but none was forthcoming. Grealish was a frustrated soul, rubbing his face in that way you do when something has come so close but remained so far. It was to become a common gesture among his team-mates, as England looked at times as if they could not pass a parcel. Those balls that Foden lofted forwarded in Andorra with the deftness of a golfer reaching for his sand wedge around the green, did not hit the target. You could see it was bothering Foden. In the 28th minute when one pass was cleared by Hungary’s defence, he clasped his hands together and his desire to correct things was shown when he barked at a ball boy to give him a ball quickly. Mount, usually so steady and reliable, was hurried and anxious in a way that you do not expect and one attempted cross-field pass was shanked so badly that it enabled the visitors to launch a counter-attack. In fairness to Mount, he took off like a sprinter to ensure no peril could come from his mistake. To stress the point again: this was not down to Southgate. This was three men who were out of sorts. What you know about this particular trident, though, is that it would have taken a special set of circumstances for it to continue. None of them are sulkers, none of them go missing if things are difficult. Foden, especially, will embark on a crusade to turn things around and so it proved. His super free-kick created the equaliser for John Stones and his passing began to get more of a tune out of Grealish but we never got a chance to see if it could be sustained as he was taken off and the system was changed. Southgate will call it game management, not losing a match when qualification is still to be secured. But 62 minutes is no time at all to see if something with the potential to be thrilling can work. ‘We have to go away and reflect and should not judge things on one game and that experiment,’ said Southgate. It was an honest and encouraging appraisal. This experiment must be repeated.