France v England talking points

England lost 3-2 to 10-man France in an international friendly in Paris on Tuesday night.

It was the last game of the season for the Three Lions as manager Gareth Southgate took the chance to look at some different players in a changed formation.

Here, we take a look at some of the main talking points to be raised by the narrow defeat.

Number one issue

Joe Hart was criticised for conceding two late free-kicks in Saturday’s 2-2 World Cup qualifying draw in Scotland and was rested for the game in Paris. Instead, he watched from the bench as both Tom Heaton and Jack Butland were given their chance to shine while the likes of Fraser Forster and Everton-bound Jordan Pickford could also earn an opportunity in the coming months. Southgate needs to decide on his first-choice goalkeeper as soon as possible to establish the best possible connection with whatever defence the England boss opts to field.

A case for the (three or four-man) defence

Whichever goalkeeper becomes Southgate’s preferred option, it remains to be seen what system will be in operation ahead of him. The Three Lions reverted to a three-man defence against France, having also tried a similar formation against Germany in March. While having the flexibility to alter his system, Southgate needs to work out which tactic can allow him to play more of his quality players in their preferred position.

Missing middle men

England’s midfield pairing in Paris was made up of a converted centre-back in Eric Dier and a winger in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Dier has become a fixture in a defensive midfield role but struggled to impact on proceedings at the Stade de France, while Oxlade-Chamberlain wasted the chance to push for a central position on a regular basis. With Jordan Henderson injured and the ageing Michael Carrick now overlooked, Southgate’s options in the middle of the park are relatively limited and gone are the days where the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes were all available.

Harry delivers some Kane relief

Once again the shining light of the England side was captain Harry Kane who hit a brace in France to take his goal tally to 11 in his past five games for club and country. The Tottenham striker, fresh from another season as the Premier League’s top goalscorer, has taken well to wearing the captain’s armband at international level with three goals. He may not scream and shout but, with a goal record like his, he can lead by example and Southgate will be hoping his skipper can start next season in similar fashion.

Video nasty

Italian referee Davide Massa only called on his Video Assistant Referee (VAR) once during the 90 minutes – but the new technology still managed to cause controversy. Designed to alleviate such moments, the VAR instead showed it will still be questioned when certain decisions are taken. In Paris, Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane was the player to fall foul of the much-anticipated step-up in assisting referees as he was shown a straight red card for bringing down Dele Alli for an England penalty early in the second half. While a penalty was the right call, Massa originally reached into his pocket for a yellow card, only to be informed by his video assistants that a red would be more suitable. There is work to be done on the system, for sure.