IF ENGLAND learned one thing this month, it was that you can’t control what you can’t control. Gareth Southgate went from leaving Kyle Walker out so he could look at two younger right-backs to not having any right-backs at all. And there was no chance to see whether Bukayo Saka could continue translating his sparkling club form at Arsenal to the international stage. He caught Covid, left St George’s Park before the Switzerland win, and left Southgate admitting he was in a “maze of confusion” about the remaining Covid protocols.

At least Southgate has come to expect the uncontrollable obstacles in his role. When I asked him whether these March internationals have been frustrating in that regard, he sat back and concluded that in fact “this month has been a little bit more like a normal month with England.” Well if he can put on a brave face about having to call-up a previously uncapped right-back (Kyle Walker-Peters), and uncapped left-back (Tyrick Mitchell) and his sixth-choice goalkeeper (Fraser Forster), then good for him.

With John Stones injured in the warm-up, England started with Ben White, Conor Coady and debutant Marc Guehi in their eventual win over the Swiss. It was a slow start from England, followed by a very shaky half of football from the defence. All three are decent players, but it was a performance to further the cause of Stones’s partnership with the off-form Harry Maguire.

The Manchester United captain was booed at Wembley on Tuesday in the routine 3-0 win over Ivory Coast, and Southgate was emotionally charged when defending the 29-year-old after the match, calling the booing “an absolute joke,” and adding that England will need a fit and firing Maguire if they’re to challenge at the World Cup in the winter. He cited the fact no team has ever won the World Cup by fielding centre-backs with three or four caps, and that Maguire’s experience holds value irrespective of his form. 

And he is right. Maguire’s United teammates Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford were left out of this squad because there are direct replacements in their positions performing better. The same is not true at centre-back, where there are plenty of good — but no great — alternative options to Stones and Maguire. 

The England manager likely knew that before this month, but the last week has affirmed that. And of course, the argument for sticking with Maguire in defence is an argument for sticking with Jordan Pickford in goal. Both have been excellent for England — and Southgate has made it clear that performances on international duty go a long way to determining how involved a player will be during his tenure.

It was another impressive couple of performances from Declan Rice, who always wants the ball and always uses it responsibly. To call the 23-year-old world class is not glib. He is showing himself to be one of the most consistent holding midfielders on the planet. He and Harry Kane remain the two players whose places in the starting lineup come the World Cup opener are all but assured already. Maguire, Stones and Pickford are there or thereabouts.

Managers do not get the luxury of spending great lengths of time with their players in international football. National team success is therefore about maximising your strengths and masking your weaknesses. England did that at the Euros by retaining the ball so well that there was never much of a threat of conceding goals. They let in their first in the semi-final. 

England were hopeless at ball retention in the opening stages against Switzerland on Saturday and pretty lax early on against the Ivorians too. But the second halves of both games were like watching the great Spain team of the early 2010s. England enjoyed total control; the only remaining problem was puncturing a tightly packed defence. 

In a tournament, England could have been punished for failing to control the opening stages of both games — and could have lived to regret long periods of possession without creating chances.

An important steppingstone on the countdown to Qatar for England, but not a crucial, future-defining pair of fixtures by any means. 

Attention turns to a new Nations League campaign in the summer, when Italy, Germany and Hungary will provide stern tests. With the World Cup just eight months away, they need them.