As the England players completed an impromptu lap of honor in front of an enthusiastic North East crowd at full-time, it was hard not to think again about the benefits of staging international matches across the country. If only the national team weren’t so attached – emotionally and financially – to boring old Wembley.
On a late spring evening when Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ made a comeback to remind us of those exciting days of Euro 2020, there was a feel-good feeling about Gareth Southgate’s England that didn’t really match much of their actual football.
Some late energy and two goals at the death put gloss on an English performance that had been tepid for a long time. Southgate’s team improved as the evening progressed against 74th-place opposition, one place behind Northern Ireland.
As Bosnia got tired and England made big substitutions, it became an open match and the home team took advantage of that. Conor Gallagher improved and had a good evening overall in the center of midfield.
Jarrod Bowen, hitherto invisible, also started to enjoy himself while Cole Palmer converted a typically nerveless penalty and Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton had a half-hour substitute in which he showed us exactly what Southgate meant when he told us on Sunday how quickly and enthusiastically he likes to pass the ball forward.
Eberechi Eze impressed in his inclusion in the England squad for the 2024 European Championship
Eze’s performance will have given England manager Gareth Southgate a lot to think about
A lot of positives then, and also three goals to fulfill a Newcastle audience supported by enthusiastic families who simply don’t get to see this sort of thing as often as they should. It was 19 years ago that England played here and it just feels so wrong.
But what about earlier in the evening? What about the 45 minutes of this match in which England played with all the energy and progress of a team showing up for preparation rather than a team that should be preparing for what is billed as one of the defining summers of their careers? ?
Southgate obviously currently has a squad of 33 players. That will be reduced to 26 on Saturday after his team faced Iceland at Wembley the day before. This means that some of his players have to audition. Too many of what was a scratch team played here as if they didn’t believe they were really in Southgate’s plans, and that was disappointing.
It’s not always easy in these games. Bosnia had limited opposition, both in terms of capabilities and prospects. It can be hard to make an impression when only one team actually shows up to play and compete.
But amid all the tepidness of the first half, Crystal Palace’s versatile forward Eberechi Eze stood out. That’s easy to do if everyone plays well. Attacking players often impress when given a platform. However, it is more difficult when the game is flat and slow, and Eze’s striking and determined contribution during that part of the evening will have given Southgate most to think about ahead of Friday’s second match.
Eze, who has been impressive for Palace for two or three seasons now, is a little unhappy that England are so well stocked in wide positions. We know that Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Jarrod Bowen are going to Germany next week, for example. And then there’s Jack Grealish and James Maddison.
But the 25-year-old offered a dynamism and directness here that made him stand out. He got the crowd out of their seats with some quick runs. Sometimes he brought life to a match and a performance in England, when otherwise he didn’t.
Southgate, despite being characterized by some as a negative coach, often talks about his fondness for players whose first instinct is to play forward, and Eze put a series of ticks in that particular box here. Wharton did just that when he came on with half an hour to go, albeit from a different position and in a different way.
With his directness and pace, Eze showed that he can offer England another option
On a night when others weren’t giving their best, Eze managed to thrive
Another Palace player, midfielder Adam Wharton, impressed on his England debut
England’s depth in forward positions is quite something. In what was clearly a pre-planned move, Southgate made four substitutions on the hour mark with Harry Kane, Maddison and Grealish all coming on at the same time. And that was without Saka and Foden, who were not present for this match.
It was a shame for Eze that he was one of the players who made way at that moment. England enjoyed themselves a bit in the final half hour and the Palace player would undoubtedly have taken advantage of the space that opened up.
Nevertheless, Southgate would have known exactly what he saw here. He saw a player eager to seize an opportunity, eager to seize and shape a game. This Newcastle crowd enjoyed the visit of England. Eze, a boy molded and refined in the football cages of Greenwich in south London, also relished the opportunity.