D3D4 columnist Darren Young takes a look at the progress England are making under Gareth Southgate and thinks the Nations League is a step in the right direction….

International Football? – Give Us A Break

On Saturday, my good friend and colleague was bemoaning this latest international break.

‘I really don’t like it’ he said as, despite us supporting League One clubs who should have been immune from it, both games had been called off due to having ‘insufficient players’.

But it wasn’t just because it robbed him of a fixture to follow, and he’s not Scottish either. The reason he didn’t like the break, or the Nations League particularly, was because mid-season international football had become uninspiring and a bit, well, pointless.

I made a half-arsed attempt to defend it at the time. I do, and always have, liked international football and there was a time, about a dozen years or so ago, when I’d go to as many England games in a season as club ones. Maybe it’s because not supporting a ‘big’ club means that chances to see football at that level are at a premium. I can’t rely on regular trips to Old Trafford, The Emirates and Anfield as a Walsall fan, so the odd international match filled that gap and craving to see the top players in big stadiums.

It was at that time when the matches were moved around the country that I enjoyed them the most, and it got less appealing when every game was at Wembley – as much as I like the stadium – and most qualifying matches there were forgone conclusions before a ball was kicked. My own interest had begun to wane a little after that spell, I admit. Successive failures to make a mark on World Cups/Euros and unimaginative managerial appointments, as well as the cost of attending games, all combined to put me off.

But not to a point I’d scrap it all together, in the way some Premier League club supporters would. Or Talk Sport – although they don’t half milk a good England performance despite their obvious indifference to the break from league action.

Of course, when my friend and I were talking about it, it was off the back of England’s turgid goalless draw in an empty Croatian stadium. It was hard to defend international football then, and even harder to make a case for the Nations League being a step in the right direction, even though I believe it is.

What I should have done was just deferred my response until after last night’s victory in Andalusia. In the region of Spain where Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist was partly set, Gareth Southgate continued to demonstrate his ability to turn base material into gold, as the oft-criticised Rashford and Sterling scored three goals between them in the first half, and then a defensive rear-guard held off the dominant home team for the second forty-five, limiting them to two goals in reply – the second a very last touch of the match consolation.

The match revived memories of the last time England won in Spain – in 1987 – when in similar rain-soaked conditions (this time in Madrid) Barcelona’s Gary Lineker scored all the goals (in a 33-minute spell) for a 4-2 win, despite Spain having more of the ball and number of chances. Just 22 minutes separated England’s first and third goals this time; from their only three shots on target, demonstrating the counter attacking efficiency and threat this team possess and why they struggle to break more defensive opponents, such as the Croatians on Friday, down quite as easily.

And despite some people on social media (where else) still finding plenty to complain about –

‘watching the second half was painful, Southgate has to go’ Callum, BBC Sport

I think we’ve seen that our national team continues to make steady progress. For example, a win over a ‘top 10’ ranked nation in Southgate’s stewardship had been limited to the home success over Switzerland, until last night.

I appreciate that one Seville – Spain’s go-to venue for guaranteed home wins – doesn’t make a summer, but it was everything, and more, that the Nations League was meant to be. It turned what would have been a rather pedestrian affair with a dozen substitutions in the second half into a real match, full of intent, passion and commitment. Anyone doubting the importance only had to watch the way the home team’s manager Luis Enrique ran up and down the touchline complaining about anything and everything. Or the way that Harry Maguire put his ample forehead onto every cross as Spain threw everything including the kitchen sink at England in the last thirty minutes.

A meaningless friendly it certainly wasn’t. Seven yellow card and some pretty meaty challenges were testament to that.

It was also thrilling to watch, despite what Callum thought of it. Not only did England put the question marks about beating the better sides to bed and show they could build on the unexpected success of Russia 2018; they also experimented with younger players and formations during the game, which is what needs to happen in between tournaments.

And is there anything better than a hard -fought win away from home against a team who last lost there in 2003? Well, maybe a win that gets an expectedly surprised Sergio Ramos’s knickers in an almighty twist at the same time.

And one where a controversial referring decision fell in England’s favour at long last.

For now, the international football debate has been shelved as we return to the domestic game for a month. Prior to the match, I was wondering what UEFA could do that would make international football better, so that it didn’t find itself removed from the picture altogether by greedy and selfish ‘super-clubs’ in years to come.

The answer, I’ve concluded, is to make sure we see more of what we saw last night in Seville. Just as whenever cricket fans begin to query if test cricket has a future, we suddenly get one of the test matches of the century; so this game showed us that international football outside of a tournament window still has a lot to give when the stakes are high enough and the teams so well matched.

A rather less-nail-biting friendly encounter with the United States is next for England in November, and this is exactly the kind of game that needs to be somewhere other than Wembley. But a few days later, it’s back there for the return game with Croatia and the possibility of topping the group and going to next year’s mini-finals.

That’s why the Nations League also has legs. It will create more interest and tournament style football in the summers between the World Cup and Euros, as well as provide players with real life scenarios to learn from. For instance, iif we come up against Spain in the quarter-finals of Euro 2020, we’ll have the experience of beating them fresh in the mind, as they will have the concerns of coping with the pace of our strikers.

And it gives one of the genuine minnows a chance to be at the finals. For example, Gibraltar – so new that Armenia played the wrong anthem – won their first competitive match this week, and the Nations League provides a level playing field for those teams accustomed to being buried under five or six goals and taking nothing away from it other than a spanking.

Will it improve the overall quality of teams in that bottom section?

It’s hard to imagine it won’t but we can always ask Scotland when they get there.