Montenegro 1-5 England - Euro 2020 Group A review

England is fast emerging as a clinical and top-level team again, with a crushing win in Montegentro in their latest Euro 2020 qualifier.

After the Montenegrins opened the scoring early on, the English equalised through defender Michael Keane and went ahead by Chelsea’s Ross Barkley. The second half though was a total blitz, with captain Harry Kane scoring, Barkley getting a brace, and emergent main man Sterling scoring the final goal.

England is proving they are by far the strongest side in the group, and people around Europe, and nay the world, will be looking at the English as a formidable force at the current time.

Montenegro’s goal came via some poor marking and positioning. But the English were able to overcome this and use their technical and tactical dominance to secure a pounding victory.

Michael Keane equalised for England

Captain Kane increased his international goal tally, though the star of the show was arguably Chelsea’s Hudson-Odoi. He hasn’t featured much for Chelsea, but he has shown he has the capacity to impact things on the international stage.

He showed much drive, pace, and cutting edge in the game, and set up chances for his compatriots. Ross Barkley, whilst not excelling for Chelsea lately, too proved he can cut it at the highest level.

It was arguably England’s younger and more fringe players who stole the show here, though, of the established men, Sterling again showed his quality and added to his international goal tally.

England now looks a shoo-in for qualification, and only a major catastrophe would deter this. They did qualify in fine style for Euro 2016 – though this ended in disaster with a defeat to Iceland in the first knockout round.

So caution is clearly advised in bigging the team up. But it’s very pleasing for England fans, even though false dawns have occurred before. As for now, it’s a fine time for England, with some world-class players, and numerous developing youngsters.

This win though was blighted by racist abuse from the Montenegro supporters, and it shows that despite triumphs, more needs to be done to ensure players of all races can receive the respect needed on the pitch.

Hudson-Odoi shone - Chelsea's loss is England's gain

Callum Hudson-Odoi’s father, Bismark Odoi, played for Ghanaian club Hearts of Oak as a midfielder. His son gave a performance as sturdy as oak in Montenegro, as he displayed the pace, power, drive and determination to cause the Montenegrins issues.

His position at Chelsea is fairly peculiar. He is a first-team player there, but he hasn’t been active in getting into the Chelsea side for unclear reasons.

Surely now, Chelsea must utilise him fully – and with their impending transfer ban (even though they are currently appealing it) it would make perfect sense for them to use him.

Hudson-Odoi is still young and could develop for England for years to come. He surely now could be a fixture in the UEFA Nations League finals, and Euro 2020. Hudson-Odoi’s Chelsea teammate, Ross Barkley, also did well in this game. And since he joined Chelsea from Everton, he hasn’t hit the heights as much as expected.

But then this will force Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri’s hand, and if their transfer ban still holds, it would give them the capacity to withstand it more ably.

Perhaps Chelsea’s loss here is England’s gain since Southgate can perhaps give them the platform required to reach the levels both are capable of.

Moreover, Chelsea could ultimately lose out, if both perform well for England and not get time at Chelsea. In time, other clubs with more propensity to play youth could acquire them, which Chelsea could rue for years to come.

A false dawn for England? Is more time at the highest stages needed to gauge their progress?

England qualified in record fashion for Euro

2016,

but lost to Iceland in the knockout stage

Whilst this performance was a great one in many facets, Montenegro is not the best team out there. This is not meant disrespectfully – however, the level of opposition must be accounted for in this context.

England, generally speaking, has qualified for tournaments before with ease. The last tournament it didn’t qualify for was the 2008 European Championships, and before that the 1994 World Cup and technically Euro 1996, as it was the host country. Other than these points, the English often qualify well for most tournaments, though flatter to deceive once there.

The crop of talent England possesses today is good. There is a mix of genuine world-class talent, good young players, and other seasoned pros. But then the sides that England had in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s to date, have had a similar mix without the results desired. Nobody can say Shearer, Adams, McManaman, Beckham, Scholes, Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Cole, or Ferdinand, were nothing players. They all attained heights domestically, and in doing so held their own amongst world-class talents.

Rooney won the Champions League at Manchester United with Ronaldo, and Cole won leagues at Arsenal and Chelsea alongside Henry, Vieira, Drogba, and Cech.

This isn’t to put a dampener on a fine win, but caution is advised here. The rubber will meet the road, as it were, in the actual Euro 2020 tournament, or in the UEFA Nations League finals, where it would matter in winning trophies.

Until then, this qualifying group should be used for the full development of the squad, and a potentially bright future for the English national side.