England would have taken a fair bit from an entertaining and, by friendly standards, pleasingly niggly evening against Belgium even without Jude Bellingham’s energising late equaliser. Some of the attacking football was really great to watch, while some of the defending was… well, let’s not dwell too much on the defending.
Most importantly, and unlike on Saturday against Brazil, this was a night when several players really made their point with the European Championships now just around the corner.
JORDAN PICKFORD
A horrible error for the opening goal, with the reorganisation that was going on in front of him after John Stones’ early departure only offering the most tenuous of mitigation. But put it behind him in Pickfordian fashion and did what was required of him manfully enough after that. Could do little about the second goal, with all the clusterf*cks this time happening in front of him.
EZRI KONSA
Started the game at right-back in place of the injured Kyle Walker before moving inside after Stones’ early injury, to be replaced at right-back by another centre-back in Joe Gomez. We are once again asking how a team that routinely plays right-backs at left-back and sometimes even in midfield has ended up using not one but two centre-backs out there. A bizarre situation, although it would be churlish to blame Gareth Southgate too much for a situation in which all four members of his first-choice defence were unavailable by the time eight minutes were on the clock here.
BEN CHILWELL
In fairness, he settled okay after a chaotic start in which he was far from the only offender. But his attacking contributions are shot to sh*t and he looks a fairly depressing shadow of his pre-injury self.
JOHN STONES
An uncertain start even before tweaking something and leading us to wonder whether his early departure was enough to get ‘Man City expulsion’ into yet another headline. Needed to be a red card, really.
LEWIS DUNK
Bullied and beaten by Romelu Lukaku in the build-up to the second goal. England’s defence really was fairly catastrophic in that first half. Settled after that error, but England really do need to have their first-choice defenders available this summer or it’s going to be deeply unpleasant this summer.
DECLAN RICE
First Arsenal player to captain England at New Wembley. Tony Adams was captain in the final game at Old Wembley. So that’s nice. Rice has become the most tremendously reliable of performers for England, and this was also a hugely responsible effort in which he was nearly always the deepest of England’s midfield three, releasing Kobbie Mainoo to play a pleasingly advanced role.
KOBBIE MAINOO
Literally impossible to watch his interplay with Jude Bellingham and not get very giddy indeed. Lovely bit of work in the build-up to the equaliser, turning and breaking through the lines before slipping the ball to Bellingham. It’s rarely wise to get too excited or too despondent by anything one sees in a friendly, but against genuinely high-class opposition, England played some really quite lovely and enterprising attacking football and Mainoo’s more progressive instincts than the alternatives alongside Rice was a big part of that.
It would be foolish to pile too much hope and expectation on Mainoo, a man strikingly inexperienced even by the standards of 18-year-old tournament bolters, but that midfield had a life and a purpose and a drive that it hasn’t always. Might, just might, be the missing piece in the midfield puzzle. Watching this front six and thinking about Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka coming into it certainly gave us some fuzzy feelings.
If England emerge from this international break with absolutely nothing other than the knowledge Mainoo is better than Gallagher or Phillips or Henderson or anyone else who might go in there, then it will still have been worth it.
JUDE BELLINGHAM
Ended a slightly niggly night with a composed finish to secure England a deserved draw with the final kick of the game. If we’re going to nitpick, and Bellingham is now of a status and standing where that is what must be done, then his end product had before that been a touch disappointing on too many occasions. Most notably when heading wide from a Joe Gomez cross. But his pass to Toney that ended with England winning a penalty was inch-perfect and the interplay with Mainoo and Foden was often really very lovely indeed. He’s now the sort of player where even his 6/10 games are worth watching. Right to the end.
PHIL FODEN
One of his better games for England, showing far more of what might be termed Man City Foden. We should all definitely want to see more Man City Foden in England colours. Clearly relished Mainoo’s more progressive contribution, with the two frequently swapping positions in the second half with Foden running from deep and collecting the ball in the centre-circle before striding forward with purpose.
JARROD BOWEN
Really, really good. A performance full of neat touches and intelligent runs that started with a first-minute sprint and cross from the right to create a chance for Ivan Toney and continued in that vein throughout, with his final contribution before making way setting up a chance from which Foden should have done better.
Won’t have done enough to play his way into the starting XI, because Bukayo Saka, but has surely cemented a squad place which is in itself is no mean feat given England’s attacking options.
IVAN TONEY
Another significant plus for England during a damp defeat. Looks very much like he belongs at international level, made clever runs all night, won and converted his penalty like a 50-cap veteran and has given himself an advantage in the Harry Kane back-up role that it will be hard now for Ollie Watkins or anyone else to reel in.
The goal was obviously welcome, but there was much more to Toney’s performance than the goal. His hold-up play was at times Kane-like, and he was able to bring the ball-players around and behind him into the game far more effectively than Watkins managed on Saturday night. The harsh reality of friendlies at this point in the calendar is that they are riddled with such intra-squad battles. Watkins did little particularly wrong, but Toney won this scrap decisively.
SUBSTITUTES
JOE GOMEZ (for Stones, 10)
Nowhere to be seen when Youri Tielemans ran on to Romelu Lukaku’s delicious cross to head home the second, but it was notable that his contributions to England’s often really very good attacking play were far more assured and consistent than those of a specialist (albeit a rusty one) in Chilwell on the other flank. Given the various injury clouds England’s first-choice defenders are currently under, Gomez’s ability to do a serviceable job anywhere across the back four means he is a pretty crucial squad member now.
JAMES MADDISON (for Mainoo, 74)
Spent 15 minutes looking more likely to get sent off than anything useful, but then popped up with a brilliantly clever assist for that late Bellingham equaliser. The irony here, of course, is that it’s Bellingham’s drifting into an ever more attacking role that has blocked Maddison’s route to the XI. They instinctively now want to operate in the same areas, and Maddison doesn’t offer as much as some others in those wide attacking roles.
That was a timely reminder of his quality, though. If England find themselves without Bellingham or Foden at any stage, Maddison arguably offers the closest match in terms of defence-opening cleverness. Given the way England can sometimes struggle to unlock those doors…
ANTHONY GORDON (for Bowen, 80)
There’s some cause and effect involved for sure, but unlucky, really, to be involved from the start in the stodgier of England’s attacking performances. Didn’t have much chance to make an impact here after replacing a man who absolutely had.
OLLIE WATKINS (for Toney, 80)
There’s some cause and effect involved for sure, but unlucky, really, to be involved from the start in the stodgier of England’s attacking performances. Didn’t have much chance to make an impact here after replacing a man who absolutely had.
Source : Football365.com