Rejuvenated Kane strikes gold as Trent and Gomes shine – rating England’s players against Finland

Harry Kane put his recent plotting performances behind him with a pair of enormously Harry Kane finishes as he marked his 100th cap with gold boots and his 67th and 68th England goals the pity of the opposition a Finland team who earlier this year conceded four goals to actual Wales cannot be ignored but there was still much to like about Lee Carley's England with Trent Alexander Arnold once again re ing in a more Liverpool esque role in Angel Gomes catching the eye on debut Jordan pford gave everyone a minor Fright with a heavy early touch but how he must long just once to have even one single Everton game that pans out like roughly 75% of his England ones do Trent Alexander Arnold there are very decent and very valid reasons why Gareth Southgate never really tried using Trent Alexander Arnold the way Liverpool used Trent Alexander Arnold but this week does rather suggest that might have been an error we have long positioned ourselves on the hill that states ta's Midfield bits and pieces are so so much more effective when he pops up there from right back than when he has to try and do all the Midfield work the concerns about his defending will never be answered on nights like this one but it's also true that an awful lot of England Internationals are nights like this one where trying to unlock a committed and concerted low block is the order of the day Alexander Arnold's high risk High reward passing choices are ideal for those Knights and on more than one occasion here he played a pass almost nobody else in the stadium had even spotted absolutely brilliant ezri Kana odd night for England's starting center backs in that they had almost nothing to do and yet on more then one occasion before the break Finland were one better choice away from opening them up Villa will be raging if the ankle injury that forced him off in the second half is serious Jon Stones we're willing to cut a bit of slack to England's Center back pairing on the basis they haven't played much together but there were a couple of moments where stones and Kaa were only the loosest of alliances better opposition might have made more of it but such is England's current task that very little can be learned defensively over the next couple of breaks very little good anyway Rico Lewis continued the long and proud tradition of right backs playing at left back for England did fine better than the Guardiola artetta adjacent Center back at left back policy carsley went for in Dublin Dean rice freed up for a few few more forward foray by the combination of Carley's more frontf foot inclinations the presence alongside or more accurately behind him of Angel goms and let's be entirely real about this the honking nature of the opposition seemed to enjoy himself in the very specific way that only a man playing a lowkey midweek International knowing he's suspended for the potentially more arduous task facing his Club at the weekend can Angel goms very good a huge positive for himself obviously but also for carsley for whom goms represented his most out there selection it's a known problem area for England but there are lots of Highly promising and very young potential Solutions goms a player legally required to be referred to as diminutive at least once every 27 minutes at the very least put himself into that conversation alongside your Manus and whartons might not be ideal for England that he actually got a few chances to showcase the defensive side of his game given the limited nature of the opposition but very encouraging that he completed those tasks with minimal fuss before nearly always picking out the sort of quietly correct pass you would take for granted from a 50 Capper but which always catches the the eye from a debutant had more touches than any other England player and found the target with 93.6% of his 123 passes an absolutely textbook looked like he'd been around the place for years rather than day effort and you can't really ask for more than that bukai oaka slightly frustrating Knight one on which his known qualities were often on display but which lacked a decisive contribution despite a number of neat touches smart runs and clever passes it is of no great concern Jack greish not quite as frequently or as effectively involved as against Ireland but still lovely to see him playing with freedom as a number 10 we're going to go ahead and blame pep for the fact he had a tendency tonight to drift too far wide into areas better occupied by Anthony Gordon Anthony Gordon clearly going to be quite a significant figure in cars ball if we can call it that which we absolutely shouldn't but while his pace and direct running from the left offers a welcome and stark contrast to the conspicuous lack of those things in the summer the nitpicker inis cannot help but wish for a Teensy bit more end product we would though like to see Gordon given more opportunities to start even when Phil foden and Jude Bellingham are back he gives a lovely balance to the attack that has been missing recently Harry Kane brought it on ourselves didn't we even before his two expertly taken goals this special night for Cain had been far more encouraging than pretty much anything we saw from him during the summer or in Dublin at the weekend denied a goal by a tight V decision in the first half old golden boots was not to be deprived of his moment in the second his first goal of the night came shortly after he'd stung Lucas Hera's Palms with a free kick and an acrobatic overhead kick in quick succession and was a cane classic shifting to find half a yard on the edge of the Box before crashing a shot and off the underside of the bar after being smartly found by the superb Alexander Arnold whatever doubts there are about Cain and we stand by those nagging doubts around his General mobility and speed off the mark in tougher tighter games than this one there is still almost nobody in World football you'd rather want to take a touch and a shot for you from around 16 to 22 yards the second goal swept into the corner from a Noni Madu cutback in another move crafted initially by Alexander Arnold was particularly delightful for immediately highlighting the Folly of Lee Dixon co- commentary claim after the first goal that the great Strikers like Kane just make sure to hit the target we'd still be happier if we could see some compelling and above all younger Pretenders to K's starting spot and these are among the easier goals to discount from his overall record but this was nevertheless a timely and welcome reminder to us all and sure mainly specifically to us that he can still do great things