Kosovo. A relatively new land that has existed for about 11 years or so. Played their first ever international game in 2014. They were on a 15 game unbeaten run until the went to St Mary's and lost 5-2 to England. A defeat, yes, but they can hold their heads high. IMO the basic skill levels of their starting XI was higher than than that of the England XI. They have a fanatical 68 year old coach who has them extremely fit and they work their butts off in a well organised system that sees them pressing high and tracking back when they get passed. They also did very little to disturb the flow of the game and were not guilty of faking injury to the extent "better" teams do. They were a joy to watch.

It took them a mere 35 seconds to open the scoring. Pickford got the ball, passed it to, I think it was Barkley, he passed back to Keane who attempted to pass square to Maguire. He hadn't looked and missed Berisha who was between the two. Berisha accepted the gift gratefully and put it away. The rest of the first half saw England dominate play and they put 5 away.

The second half started the same way the first had, Rice lost the ball, totally unnecessarily, in midfield and 2 or 3 passes later Berisha had his second. 8 minutes after that, an unnecessary foul by Maguire saw Kosovo get a penalty. After that I expected England to restore the natural order and they had chances enough. Sterling hit the post, Kane missed a penalty but that was, IMO, poetic justice as the Kosovo defender did tug on Barkley but that was just outside the box. Barkley made sure he fell over in the box. Not a penalty to me. England were much less sharp in the second half. Possibly thinking they didn't have to have the same intensity to extend the lead. It didn't happen. The major reason for that being the constant delaying of passes that either saw the man in possession lose the ball, play the pass too late making it easy to intercept or put the pass either behind or too far in front og the intended target. IMO Barkley and Sterling were the 2 biggest culprits by a country mile but they were by no means alone. Kosovo never gave up and kept on their high pressing game and were the better side in the second half. They impressed me and I shall watch their games when they can be picked up here in the Netherlands.

The England players? I question the maneuverability of the two centre halves. I don't think Rice is an England international. The majority of his passes are sideways or backwards and too many don't reach their intended target. Barkley started in the #10 role but he spent a lot of time where a DM would be expected to be, too many wayward passes, too many too late passes, too often he kept dribbling until he lost the ball. Sterling. An enigma. I always said, until about 2 years ago, that he was a sprinter and not a footballer. Pep has turned him into more of a footballer and he is a pretty efficient one as well. As with Rice and Barkley, too many of his passes are too late or misplaced but the rate of goals and assists he now has mean he is worth his place in the side. I will not comment on his manner of running

If England make those mistakes against better sides they will get punished as Kosovo punished them and against that better side they will not get the chances they got against Kosovo. Last night's very enjoyable game should be a wake up call for England. That might seem a strange thing to say of a side that scored 5 but the concession of 3 and the manner in which they occurred is food for thought.

Kosovo will have given many a minnow hope and, hopefully, we might see more of the minnows come and have a go instead of parking the bus