Finland 1-3 England (Hoskonen 87′ | Grealish 18′, Alexander-Arnold 74′, Rice 84′)
HELSINKI — This had the feel of an FA Cup third round tie, where a Premier League team is parachuted into the game’s nether regions and proceeds to prance about the place.
Thus could England do almost what they wanted, which meant a lot of balls pinged about the park but without really going anywhere until Finland ran out of gas.
Yes there were three goals, two fabulous, but in the context of a mismatch of a contest it all felt a bit so-what.
“We see it in training all the time” is the standard refrain when players bring to the pitch a bit of training ground magic.
Jack Grealish put the cherry on a cute pass from Angel Gomes, England’s outstanding player alongside Marc Guehi.
Trent Alexander-Arnold bent one like Alexander-Arnold and Declan Rice helped himself to the third.
What this told us of Lee Carsley’s prospects is impossible to know. Gomes apart, Gareth Southgate could have picked this team. For England the intensity was barely above practice levels.
That’s not their fault. The Nations League does not begin to scratch the surface of the meaning and significance of big club engagements, or of major international tournaments.
Finland were up for it, however, and might have been level early in the second half when Fredrik Jensen whacked one over the bar from under the posts. They had their moments in the first half too, but only as a result of rare English errors.
Poor balls from Gomes, John Stones and Kyle Walker all led to shots at goal. The other joy found by the Finns was down England’s left flank, targeting the space behind the latest temporary left-back, Trent Alexander-Arnold. And this being Alexander-Arnold, there was always space to be had.
The Finns have never beaten England, yet for the 30,000 in this marvellous chunk of post-war minimalist concrete it felt like they had when they registered the final goal of the night. Before that it seemed like most of the locals had come to watch the English superstars. Jude Bellingham took most of the attention, his name echoing about the stands at the final whistle in the vague hope he might pose for a selfie or at least give a wave.
The only real mystery for England was the isolation of Cole Palmer, whose lonely vigil on the right wing lasted until the Carsley hook in the second half. The inclination was to feed Grealish on the left, which was fine because the Manchester City winger was full of it and linked well with Gomes and Bellingham.
That apart the balance of the team was much improved, benefitting from the central spine of Rice, Gomes and Bellingham, and a fulcrum at nine in the shape of returning skipper Harry Kane. Carsley did the decent thing, removing Palmer in the final quarter, as well as Kane, giving Noni Madueke and Ollie Watkins 20 minutes to put some air in their lungs.
Carsley moved about his people at the final whistle shaking the hands of the players and falling into a bear-hug of an embrace from Bellingham.
Was there in that a moment a hint of permanence in their relationship? While Carsley maintains his neutrality we are left to guess. At the same time you wonder what difference it would make since, as Carsley maintains, almost any coach of note ought to make this group into winners.
Carsley has one more window to fulfil his obligation as caretaker. His relationship with the players is more fraternal than avuncular. It feels almost as if he were one of them. Bellingham clearly loves him, Grealish too, a Brummie brotherhood at the heart of England.
Finland coach Markku Kanerva felt his team improved since the Wembley defeat last month but acknowledged the quality of the opposition was just too great. England were certainly better than their last outing at Wembley three days ago. Had Carsley followed the Greek defeat with another here there would have been few questions about his prospects of claiming the role permanently.
He made a sensible, balanced selection here that delivered some solid individual displays and a bread-and-butter result. That was the minimum requirement after the misstep against Greece.
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