With two outstanding finishes, Harry Kane put his recent sluggish performances behind him and celebrated his 100th international golden boot appearance as well as his 67th and 68th goals for England.
The poor performance of their opponents – a Finnish side that conceded four goals against Wales earlier this year – cannot be ignored, but Lee Carsley’s England still had plenty to offer: Trent Alexander-Arnold once again enjoyed his Liverpool-like role and Angel Gomes stood out on his debut.
JORDAN PICKFORD
He gave everyone a bit of a fright with his heavy early touch, but how he must wish to have just one Everton game that ends like around 75 percent of his games for England.
TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD
There are very good and valid reasons why Gareth Southgate has never really tried to use Trent Alexander-Arnold in the way Liverpool use Trent Alexander-Arnold, but this week tends to suggest that may have been a mistake. We’ve long been on the hill saying that TAA’s midfield parts are so much more effective when he’s coming forward from right-back than when he has to try and do all the work in midfield.
The concerns about his defensive performance will never be answered on nights like this, but it is also true that a great many England internationals have nights like this, where breaking through a committed and focused deep block is the order of the day. Alexander-Arnold’s risky but rewarding passing decisions are ideal for such nights, and on more than one occasion here he played a pass that almost no one else in the stadium had even noticed. Absolutely brilliant.
EZRI KONSA
It was a strange evening for England’s centre-backs, who had almost nothing to do, although Finland were just a step ahead to make way for them on more than one occasion before half-time. Villa will be furious if the ankle injury that forced him out in the second half is serious.
JOHN STONES
We’re willing to give England’s centre-back duo a little leeway, given they haven’t played much together, but there were a few moments where Stones and Konsa were only the loosest of alliances. Better opponents could have made more of it, but England’s current task is such that there is very little to be learned defensively in the next few breaks. Very little good, anyway.
RICO LEWIS
Continuing the long and glorious tradition of right-backs playing left-back in England. Did a good job. Better than the Guardiola-Arteta-style strategy of using centre-backs as left-backs that Carsley followed in Dublin.
DECLAN RICE
Carsley’s more attacking style, the presence of Angel Gomes alongside – or rather behind – him and, let’s be honest, the aggressive nature of the opposition, gave him more space to make a few more forays forward. He seemed to be enjoying himself in that special way that only a man playing a low-key international match during the week can, knowing he is suspended for the potentially more difficult task his club faces at the weekend.
ANGEL GOMES
Very good. A huge advantage for himself, of course, but also for Carsley, for whom Gomes was the most unusual choice. It’s a familiar problem area for England, but there are plenty of promising and very young potential solutions. Gomes, a player legally obliged to be labelled ‘small’ at least once every 27 minutes, has at least slotted himself into that category alongside your Mainoos and Whartons. It may not be ideal for England that he actually got a few chances to show the defensive side of his game, given the limited strength of the opposition, but it’s very encouraging that he completed those tasks with minimal fuss, before almost always selecting the kind of calm, correct pass that you take for granted from a 50-cap player, but which always catches the eye from a debutant.
He had more touches of the ball than any other English player and hit the target with 93.6 percent of his 123 passes. An absolutely exemplary “He looked like he had been here for years, not just days, and you really can’t ask for more than that.”
BUKAYO SAKA
A somewhat frustrating evening where he often showed off his well-known qualities but, despite some good touches, smart runs and clever passes, was unable to make a decisive contribution. That is no cause for concern.
JACK GREALISH
While he wasn’t involved quite as often or as effectively as he was against Ireland, it was still nice to see him playing freely as a No. 10. We blame Pep for his tendency to drift too far out wide tonight into areas better occupied by Anthony Gordon.
ANTHONY GORDON
He’s clearly going to be a pretty significant figure in Carsball, if we can call it that, which we definitely shouldn’t, but while his pace and direct running from the left are a welcome and stark contrast to the conspicuous lack of those things in the summer, the bean counter in us can’t help but want a teeny bit more end product. We’d love to see Gordon get more starts, though, even with Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham back. He adds a nice balance to the attack that has been lacking of late.
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HARRY KANE
We have only ourselves to blame, don’t we?? Even before his two masterfully scored goals, this particular night for Kane was far more encouraging than pretty much anything we’d seen from him over the summer, or over the weekend in Dublin. He was denied a goal in the first half by a narrow VAR decision, but Ol’ Golden Boots didn’t let that take away his moment in the second half. His first goal of the night came shortly after he’d hit Lukas Hradecky in the palms with a free kick and an acrobatic overhead kick in quick succession, and was a classic Kane move as he moved half a yard to the edge of the box and then slammed a shot home off the underside of the crossbar after being cleverly found by the great Alexander-Arnold.
Whatever doubts there are about Kane – and we stand by those nagging doubts about his general agility and speed in tougher, tighter games than this one – there is still almost nobody in the world of football you would rather touch and shoot a ball from 15-20 yards out. The second goal, fired into the corner after a Noni Madueke backpass in another move originally rehearsed by Alexander-Arnold, was particularly pleasing because it immediately highlighted the folly of Lee Dixon’s co-commentator claim after the first goal that the great strikers like Kane simply look to hit the goal.
We would be even happier if we could see some convincing and especially younger candidates for Kane’s starting place, and these goals are among the easier ones to remove from your overall score Nevertheless, it was a timely and welcome reminder for all of us – and especially for us personally – that he can still achieve great things.
SPARE PARTS
LEVI COLWILL (for Konsa, 61)
He was allowed to play in his preferred position, which was nice. He fulfilled the few demands placed on him perfectly, which was nice.
NONI MADUEKE (for Saka, 66)
Another debutant, the Chelsea player provided an assist for Kane’s second goal. In general, however, he spent most of his half hour on the pitch not quite to make the right decision after acquiring some really promising positions.
EBERECHI EZE (for Gordon, 66)
Eze is not yet completely settled in the England shirt. He was very involved in what was a triumphant campaign at the time he came on, but he was lacking the moment to really get things going.
MARC GUEHI (for Stones, 79)
England’s best player at Euro 2024 came off the bench, made a tackle and then played a flashy forward pass to remind everyone of his existence.
JARROD BOWEN (for Kane, 79)
The main task was to give the Centurion a standing ovation. Mission accomplished.
