England's UEFA Nations League campaign got off to a miserable start as Gareth Southgate's side limped to a 1-0 defeat against Hungary in Budapest.
Dominik Szoboszlai's second-half penalty was the difference between the sides as Hungary beat the Three Lions for the first time in 60 years.
After a bright start, England almost fell behind when Szoboszlai was found with a cross, only for his goal bound effort to be cleared off the line by Conor Coady. And while they continued to dominate possession, the hosts had plenty of attacking intent and were committed to get behind England’s high defensive line.
With neither side able to break the deadlock in the opening 45 minutes, Hungary had the first chance after the break when Zsolt Nagy's shot from distance fizzed past Jordan Pickford's post. Shortly after the hour mark, the hosts had the lead they probably deserved when Szoboszlai scored from the spot after Reece James was penalised for a foul in the box.
It took a goal to shock England into life and chances quickly came and went for Jarrod Bowen, Jude Bellingham and Coady. But the game should have been put out of reach when Andras Schafer fired over with the goal gaping after a Pickford save.
Harry Kane thought he'd netted a late equaliser only to see his shot crash into the side netting, rather than the back of it. Mirror Football has the main talking points as England's long unbeaten run comes to an end with a sorry performance.
Tough crowd
Football behind closed doors isn’t what it used to be. Let’s remember this game was supposed to be played in front of an empty Puskas Arena after displaying homophobic banners and aiming racist abuse towards opponents in Euro 2020.
But instead of the echoes of an empty stadium, UEFA allowed around 30,000 young supporters, who are able to apply for free tickets in these scenarios. Southgate admitted he was surprised that so many were due to be in attendance and the away side were quickly made to feel just that, when they were jeered during warm ups.
Perhaps most disappointingly, those in attendance then made the decision to boo England when they took the knee prior to kick off. A reminder that when this fixture was played back in September, Hungary were hit with a £150,000 fine for racially abusing England players.
The numbers game
It’s the topic that will likely dominate the next five months - will Southgate play four or five at the back? The Three Lions have proven they can be flexible with systems and certainly have the players that are capable to do both.
However, against a side well below the quality they will need to beat in the World Cup, the same struggles were evident. With five defenders and two deeper lying midfielders, there is still a feeling the balance isn’t quite right.
If you were to poll the majority of England supporters, the starting midfield pair would be Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, but there is still plenty of work to do to get the best out of both. Southgate has a plethora of attacking options at his disposal and it’s fair to question whether a back five serves them best.
Until England went one down you could count their chances on one finger and that won't fly in Qatar when they take on the big boys in the latter stages.
The debutants
James Justin and Jarrod Bowen were both thrown right in at the deep end and started the first game of their first England squad. Bowen was tasked with working closely alongside Harry Kane, drifting in from the right side to offer support.
In the early exchanges the West Ham star was in the thick of the action and manufactured two chances in the opening minutes. Even as England toiled, Bowen remained the most likely source of goal and may have done better with a volley in the second half.
As for Justin, he struggled somewhat in the heat of the Hungarian capital, with Marco Rossi's side concentrating much of their attacking output down his side. He continued to provide an output even after picking up a knock and it's now hoped that wasn't anything too serious.
A rest required
There was plenty of talk going into this fixture about the demands on players with a hectic schedule of international matches taking place, despite the World Cup moving to the winter. For many of those in the England team, they had less than three weeks between the Premier League ending and this game starting.
“It’s difficult, when you are playing at the highest level, physically and mentally it takes a lot out of the body,” Kane said before the game. “For sure I feel like three weeks off isn’t enough time to recover mentally and physically.”
And England did look very much a team that is desperate for a prolonged rest. That doesn’t excuse the performance entirely however, but does perhaps offer an indication as to why a squad brimming with quality looked so lethargic.
Germany up next
“We've found both the previous Nations League events have been very successful and not successful,” Southgate admitted before kicking off. Well on this evidence, England’s third crack at the newly established Nations League could be another unsuccessful one.
After losing to the worst-ranked side in Group 3, the chances of qualifying over the likes of Germany and Italy look a long shot.
Southgate’s side head to Munich on Tuesday night and their old foes will fancy their chances of exacting a bit of revenge following their Euro 2020 loss. The argument can certainly be made that this ‘tournament’ is little more than a batch of glorified friendlies, but looking at it solely through the lens of tuning up for the World Cup, performances like Saturday night won’t go down well.
