Montenegro 1-5 England - Euro 2020 Group A review

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.