Montenegro 1-5 England: 5 Talking Points

Montenegro v England - UEFA EURO 2020 Qualifier
Montenegro v England - UEFA EURO 2020 Qualifier

#2 Hudson-Odoi answers his critics but shows his inexperience

Hudson-Odoi provided the assist for Barkley's first goal
Hudson-Odoi provided the assist for Barkley's first goal

The hype is real, Callum Hudson-Odoi has had a night to remember on Monday as the teenager bagged an assist in the dominating win over Montenegro.

Hudson-Odoi, who was only called up to the side after facing numerous injuries in Gareth Southgate's squad, had a poor start to the match as the teenager inexperience caused England to concede the first goal of the match. Odoi failed to contest an air ball, resulting in Marko Vešović getting the ball and scoring the first goal of the night.

The teenager initially gave Kyle Walker extra work to do as he failed to track back and help the right back in defence. A switch to the left wing saw the teenager expressing himself more. After the switch in position, the England attack became more focused on the left-hand side as Odoi took the game right to the Montenegro defence.

The winger was direct and enjoyed a lot more space on the wings as he provided the assist for Ross Barkley to score his first goal in an England jersey since 2015. The Montenegro defense could not cope with the teenager's speed as he made inroads into the opposition's defense time and time again.

The second half was a little bit quiet for the teenager as Ross Barkley and Raheem Sterling basked in the glory of the thrashing done.


#3 Montenegro impressive on the counter

Vešović was impressive for the hosts
Vešović was impressive for the hosts

If there was a single problem that was evident in the English game today, it was their defense's lack of composure in regaining their shape in the offset of a counter attack.

As impressive as England were on the counter, Montenegro gave the English defense a tough time before Ross Barkley scored the third goal and opened the floodgates. The English left quite a lot of space on the wings, which were impressively used by Montenegro as they came close to levelling the score while 2-1 down.

Marko Vešović handled Kyle Walker well as the 27-year old twisted and turned away from the Manchester City man only to see a combination of poor positional play and poor finishing, playing spoilsport for his team.

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