UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers: 3 reasons why England defeated Kosovo

England ended their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign on a high with a 0-4 win over Kosovo
England ended their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign on a high with a 0-4 win over Kosovo

England cemented their spot as a top seed at UEFA Euro 2020 this evening with a 0-4 victory over Kosovo in Pristina in their final qualifying game for the tournament.

The game was essentially a dead rubber as Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions had already achieved qualification with Thursday’s win over Montenegro, while Kosovo missed out on automatic qualification when they were defeated by the Czech Republic; they will now head into the playoffs for the tournament due to winning their group in League D of the UEFA Nations League.

Kosovo did make the game competitive, attacking England in a way that Montenegro had not been able to, but they never really opened Southgate’s men up, and when Harry Winks’ first international goal put England ahead on 32 minutes, the result never truly appeared in doubt. England did not add to their tally through until 79 minutes, and from there the floodgates opened, with Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Mason Mount giving the Three Lions a somewhat flattering scoreline.

Here are 3 reasons why England defeated Kosovo.

#1 Winks offers a glimpse of what could be

Harry Winks had a fantastic game and topped his performance off with his first international goal
Harry Winks had a fantastic game and topped his performance off with his first international goal

The majority of England’s players actually failed to impress this evening; it felt like the front trio of Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Callum Hudson-Odoi were anonymous for great swathes of the game while Tyrone Mings looked somewhat shaky and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s usual fantastic delivery was also off. One man who did impress though was midfielder Harry Winks.

Winks opened the scoring for England with a wonderfully taken goal; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain collected the ball from Kane and then played a nicely weighted pass to Harry Winks, whose first touch took him past two Kosovan defenders and allowed him to slot home past goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.

But it wasn’t just his goal that made his display so excellent. Winks literally appeared to be everywhere for England, buzzing around the middle of the park and both contributing to the Three Lions’ attacks while also contributing defensively too. The Spurs man did lose the ball a couple of times, but his pass success rate remained remarkably high – 96%.

Essentially, Winks as a number 8 was one of the plus points from this evening’s performance, and with Declan Rice doing a solid – albeit pedestrian – job as the holding midfielder, questions have to be asked over whether it’d be the right call to put Jordan Henderson back into this starting XI, especially when you consider the need for a natural playmaker like Mason Mount or James Maddison in the third midfield slot.

Does Henderson offer more than Winks in that number 8 slot? Personally, I don’t believe he does, and tonight’s game was almost proof of that – England’s midfield has tended to be their weak point recently, not their strongest as was the case in this evening’s game. Hopefully, for England’s Euro 2020 hopes, Gareth Southgate was convinced too.

#2 Kosovo’s end product was poor

Nick Pope was never truly tested by Kosovo's attack
Nick Pope was never truly tested by Kosovo's attack

Despite the 0-4 scoreline, this wasn’t one of England’s most convincing performances during this qualifying campaign. In fact, there’s probably an argument to be made that this was second only to their October loss to the Czech Republic in terms of Gareth Southgate’s side looking off the boil. Midfielders Harry Winks and Declan Rice were relatively impressive, but outside of them, the side struggled at times.

So how did this game turn into a 0-4 win for the Three Lions? Essentially, Kosovo’s end product was absolutely appalling – and probably explains why they weren’t able to qualify for Euro 2020 ahead of the Czech Republic. Bernard Challandes’ side had 45% possession and actually had 12 shots on goal – but only 3 of them were on target and none truly tested England goalkeeper Nick Pope.

If anything, it was lucky for England that Kosovo’s finishing was so poor; once again their back-line looked shaky at times, with Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings guilty on more than one occasion of being found out of position or sloppy in the pass – although it must be said that the quality of the pitch was clearly a problem for him at times as it was for some of England’s other players.

It seems paramount that Southgate must find a steady partner for Harry Maguire before the tournament begins; Michael Keane has been badly exposed over the last few games, Mings appears limited and question marks still hang over the judgment of John Stones. Perhaps Fikayo Tomori – who made his full England debut tonight and like Mings, is also left-footed – is the answer?

#3 England’s front trio remains terrifying

Marcus Rashford energised England's attack when he came on from the bench
Marcus Rashford energised England's attack when he came on from the bench

Coming into this evening’s match England had scored a stellar 33 goals in their 7 qualifying games, with star striker Harry Kane plundering 11 and Raheem Sterling chipping in with 8, but tonight – for the majority of the game at least – they seemed somewhat toothless. Unfortunately, this could’ve been down to Callum Hudson-Odoi – selected ahead of Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford – struggling throughout his time on the pitch.

Nothing Hudson-Odoi tried really seemed to come off, and he was guilty of giving the ball away cheaply on numerous occasions. Essentially, this was a game that showed his young age and relative inexperience at this level, not that there’s any shame in that. But when Southgate sent Marcus Rashford on to replace him, the game instantly changed.

Rashford felt sharper and more threatening than the Chelsea man and it was no surprise that England’s final three goals came with him on the pitch – with the Manchester United forward finishing the third with a beautifully weighted shot following Sterling’s pass.

Question marks have hung over Rashford’s place in England’s front trio for a while now – especially as Sancho’s star has risen at Borussia Dortmund – but after his last two showings, his spot ought to be nailed in now. England’s first-choice front trio remain absolutely terrifying to any defence in Europe, as Kosovo found out to their peril this evening.

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Edited by Sai Teja