Barring a highly unlikely sequence of results in the final round of qualifiers England will be among the top seeds at the European Championship but after this underwhelming win over the minnows of Malta Gareth Southgate admitted “we were not where we want to be and can be”.

England vs. Malta Livestream: How to Watch Euro 2024 Qualifier Soccer From Anywhere..

England will frankly have to play far better than this to thrive next summer – and surely they will – and while there is credence to the manager’s argument that there was some “self-regulation” (ie, players playing within themselves) because of the density of games they play and the weakness of the opposition, it was not an evening when fringe candidates pushed their claim and that is becoming a worrying theme. None of them did so either in the recent disappointing friendly against Australia. Southgate said it was a game that England could win “at a canter”. But this was not even a lope.

Instead it was a slightly bizarre night; a night when the paper aeroplanes were back out in force at Wembley Stadium. A night when it took England 64 minutes to even have a shot on target. A night when Malta, ranked 171st in the world, outperformed England in “expected goals” in the first-half (a paltry 0.14 against 0.04). A night when Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold ran into each other, with Rashford having to go off hurt. A night when Jordan Henderson was again booed off the pitch as he was substituted, and a night when captain Harry Kane suffered the indignity of being harshly cautioned for allegedly diving in search of a penalty.

Of course, Kane eventually scored, his 62nd goal for England, in the one move of any fluidity that Southgate’s side managed to summon, while beyond that it was a case of sifting for small nuggets in a sea of sludge. Phil Foden? He did well. He pressed his case. Alexander-Arnold? He was deployed in midfield, where he wants to be and where he sees his chance of being an England regular, and did okay but he hardly ran the game and cannot be properly assessed until he is used against stronger opposition

Cole Palmer? It was good to see him get his debut even if Jarrod Bowen, who was ahead of him in the original squad selected, must wonder why he stayed on the bench. Marc Guehi? Yes, he appears to be pushing for a place, although that was offset by a sloppy display by Harry Maguire alongside him.

Sloppy was a word used by Kane. “We were sloppy and we couldn’t quite build,” he admitted. “It was not our finest performance”. It certainly was not as Southgate bemoaned the lack of “quality on the ball”, the lack of chances created and his team being “flat”.

“We didn’t hit the heights that we have done this calendar year,” Southgate said. “These players have played so many games and have done so well for us so I am not going to hammer them for it. We weren’t where we [should be] but we got the win.”

That is fair enough, as Southgate mounted a further defence, pointing out the disjointed nature of this camp with injuries and withdrawals and players needing to be managed through their various bumps and bruises. “We wouldn’t be able to get away with it in March,” he said, alluding to the prestige friendlies against Brazil and Belgium before next June’s tournament.

Southgate also mentioned maybe a lack of “motivation” in facing Malta and with qualification secured, but that is moving into dangerous territory. Let’s say that two – Jordan Pickford and Kane – from this starting XI are guaranteed their place at the Euros. That means, surely, nine others have a point to prove? What more motivation could they face given the prize at stake?

So it was not a good game for Conor Gallagher or Fikayo Tomori, both withdrawn at half-time, although there has to be sympathy for the AC Milan centre-half, who was asked to play at left-back – a problem position for England given the unavailability of Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell – and looked distinctly uncomfortable.

Maybe some of the others simply know they will be going to Germany come-what-may but, really, we needed to see more from Rashford and Henderson, to name just two. England may have an impressive team, arguably Europe’s best, but they need to be pushed while those two are vying for three of four spots – at most – that are up for grabs.

This one is on the players; not Southgate. They have to take their chances even if the manager maybe needs to reflect on the need for a bit more jeopardy as he heads to North Macedonia for Monday’s final qualifier.

Quick tips for streaming Euro 2024 qualifiers using a VPN 

• With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming Euro 2024 qualifiers may vary.
• If you don’t see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the “search for city or country” option.
• If you’re having trouble getting the game after you’ve turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs — like Roku — don’t have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
• All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network’s sports app, you’ll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location. 
• And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you’re using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.

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