England managed to secure a win in one of their two warm-up matches before departing for Germany and Euro 2024 as they downed Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0.
However, it was far from a complete performance and Gareth Southgate took the opportunity to try out some of the members of his squad he might not have seen a lot of.
Cole Palmer broke the deadlock from the penalty spot before Trent Alexander-Arnold doubled the home side’s advantage with a well-timed volley. Late in the match, Harry Kane, who started on the bench, was in the right place to tap home England’s third of the night.
Jarrad Branthwaite and Adam Wharton were handed their international debuts as England returned to St James’ Park for the first time since 2005.
Here’s how the players rated on the night
England starting XI
Jordan Pickford, 6
Essentially untested throughout the entire match as Bosnia had very little to offer going forward.
Ezri Konsa, 5
The Aston Villa defender denied Jarrod Bowen a first England goal by blocking his teammate’s shot on the line and otherwise did not do a huge amount to impact the match, although made a nuisance of himself at set-pieces.
Lewis Dunk, 5
Dunk did not have a lot to do at the heart of England’s defence as Bosnia were not particularly threatening going forwards.
Marc Guehi, 5
Looked a bit nervous and was shown a yellow card in a friendly for a sub-par challenge, and otherwise did not have a busy game.
Kieran Trippier, 7
With the captain’s armband at his home ground of St James’ Park, Trippier tried to get forward and create chances but he was often not on the same wavelength as Ollie Watkins playing ahead of him.
Conor Gallagher, 6
The Chelsea player had a lot of energy in England’s midfield but struggled to link up with the forward players. Didn’t hold back when throwing himself into challenges to try and create something out of nothing.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, 8
Wearing an uncharacteristic number eight on the back of his shirt, he played some clever passes through the middle and won England a couple of corners. He provided a great cross-field pass to dangerously free Grealish down the left late on. Then hit a well-timed volley for England’s second goal.
Jarrod Bowen, 6
Bowen was given longer by Southgate than some of the others to try and impact the game and had a well-timed ball across the box but no one was able to get on the end of it. His late effort was destined for the net before being blocked by his own man Konsa.
Cole Palmer, 7
Looked a bright spark from the outset and played a nice ball through to Watkins who managed to squeeze a shot from a tight angle. Scored England’s penalty in the second half, just putting the ball under the goalkeeper to give the home side the lead.
Eberechi Eze, 7
Eze was one of the main bright sparks in the match. He made a strong powerful run between the lines and caused problems for defenders with his movement, pace and dribbling before he was substituted on the hour mark for Jack Grealish.
Ollie Watkins, 6
Had just three touches in the first 36 minutes and didn’t have a significant threat going forwards but held the ball up and caused the defenders some problems with his movement. Still question marks over his quality at international level.
Substitutes
Harry Kane, 7
Took over the captain’s armband from Trippier when he was brought on and looked to attack the goal as soon as he did. Scored England’s third goal of the evening and his 63rd for his country.
Adam Wharton, 6
He was rewarded with a maiden England cap when he came on in the second half with a number of other substitutions. Looked tidy but did not have sufficient opportunity to impact the match.
Jarrad Branthwaite, 6
Branthwaite was England’s other debutant at St James’ Park and the Everton player did not have a huge impact on the game but he played some clever passes. Also picked up a booking.
James Maddison, 6
As soon as he was brought on, Maddison took over free-kicks and corners and tried to impact the game with his additional energy and movement.
Jack Grealish, 7
Grealish managed to get on the end of a well-struck ball from Alexander-Arnold and tried to play in Maddison but the ball wasn’t quite there for him as it dribbled wide. Then played in the Liverpool man for England’s second goal, which was the best of the evening, with a lovely cross. May still be sweating on his place in the Euros squad after a sub-par season for Man City.
Joe Gomez, 6
Came on towards the end of the match and did not have enough time to impact the game, while the Bosnia attacks were not threatening.
