England's flaws were laid bare against a resurgent Spain - but that doesn't mean there's no cause for optimism

A world-class team so unbelievably strong in the area where England is weakest was a bad match-up for Gareth Southgate's men

The result at Wembley was pleasing for those of a red persuasion (AFP/Getty)

All thoughts in Spain were of moving on. All eyes in Spain were on Luis Enrique, and how he might be able to take forward La Roja after another stale World Cup exit.

The result was pleasing for those of a red persuasion but more so it was the performance that cheered Spanish fans.

A shootout defeat to Russia, coming as it did after 120 minutes of possession so sterile it would be waved through the door of an operating theatre, was another low moment for a Spain generation that had become used to such highs.

The very greatness that brought them the World and European titles was what they were trying to replicate this summer but, in coming up short, they exposed the folly of chasing nostalgia. The passes were numerous – over 1000 against Russia – but nitrogen-like in their inertness. There needed to be more thrust, with aggression replacing passive, fearful possession.

And in the end that is what they got. Spain’s midfield took over a game in which they conceded a brilliant opener on the counter-attack, and in which England flashed at times, but ultimately where a new-look Spanish side had far more verticality and incision than its previous iterations.

“The examination was not easy,” wrote Jose Felix Diaz in Marca. “We already know of Wembley’s mystical qualities, and all of the other things that English football always brings with it.”

As has been well-documented elsewhere, and on these pages, what English football struggled to bring with it was a midfield that could challenge Spain’s.

Jordan Henderson at times seemed marooned as the Three Lions’ sole pivot man, with Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard supposed to be the pistons that drove England’s engine but instead flitting in and out of the game as the hosts became overrun by Spain’s midfield triangle.

Too often Lingard and Alli were forced to come deep to pick up the ball facing their own goal and no more than 30 yards from Jordan Pickford. This 3-1-4-2 system clearly has thought behind it and a process, but at the moment it appears that the pegs and holes might be shaped slightly differently.

Indeed, in the same way that Alli might well be better suited to playing as a partner for Kane – a prospect that became more unlikely, unfortunately, with Marcus Rashford’s lively display last night – there is a case that Henderson might be better in that box-to-box role rather than as a deep-lying player. The problem, as ever with England, is the lack of alternatives. There is no obvious candidate to fill the role of that man who sits in front of the defence, a player who needs to have a full range of passing, defensive nous and the ability to circulate possession easily.

England failed to come up with any concrete answers to Spain’s probing questions (Getty)

“Spain dominated from start to finish the rhythm of a game against an England that didn’t know what to do when it had to attack,” noted Diaz in Marca. “The roof fell in on Southgate’s talented side, still getting over Russia.”

There might be a little of the Russia hangover with England, but a much simpler explanation is that a world-class team so unbelievably strong in the area where England is weakest was a bad match-up for Southgate’s men.

With the quality of midfielder that couldn’t even get into this Spain squad (Koke) or off the bench on Saturday night (Suso, Dani Ceballos, Rodri) there is an obvious talent and/or coaching gap for England to make up.

The biggest concerns in Spain weren’t over personnel, but over effectiveness and style. Luis Enrique appeared to answer those in his first game.

England’s issues will take longer to fix, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t cause for optimism.