Even Dan Burn, after the week he has had, is probably not naive enough to believe dreams come true twice in six days at the same place. Even so, when he rose to head a corner against the crossbar here at Wembley, he came rather close.
The national stadium had a slightly different feel about it here than it did when Burn scored for Newcastle in last Sunday’s Carabao Cup final defeat of Liverpool. That felt like a great emotional black and white awakening. This was more like the first day of school for Thomas Tuchel and his team, just with 80,000 people watching. By full-time, many had gone home.
Burn maybe did not expect to play here. Marc Guehi was favourite to partner Ezri Konsa in the centre of defence in the absence of players such as Harry Maguire and John Stones.
But the 32-year-old is not shy. He is a vocal footballer – he told us so last week – and here he emerged as one of Tuchel’s more watchable players – for reasons good and bad – on an evening that proved to be a little bit more difficult than many of us had anticipated for a team that fancies itself to have a proper tilt at winning next year’s World Cup in America.
As you would have imagined, Burn’s threat at England set pieces was just as great as it had been against Liverpool. Albania, at least, looked as though they had prepared for it. When he leaped to head one corner wide in the 27th minute, two opponents were marking him. Liverpool didn’t bother with any of that and are probably still wondering why.
A moment later, however, Burn did find space and the header he planted against the crossbar from seven yards probably should have gone in.
Dan Burn (right) made his England debut aged 32 in Friday night’s 2-0 victory over Albania
Burn posed an attacking threat from set pieces as he got on the end of multiple corner kicks
So that was all very nice even if some of the stuff at the other end of the field was occasionally less so and this is perhaps where all the romance stops and the reality kicks in.
Burn is not necessarily one of Newcastle’s best defenders so is he really one of England’s? It was handy to have a left-footer in the team on that side and, in an opening half that England dominated but struggled to take a genuinely proper grip of, he passed the ball well enough under no pressure and was confident enough to bark instructions at those players in front of him. But we once said that about Conor Coady too.
In terms of the actual defending, there were some moments of alarm against a team ranked 65th in the world, especially in the second half when Albania were a final pass or two away of scoring an equaliser that would have well and truly ruined Tuchel’s night.
Burn is not quick and can look heavy on the turn. This was apparent on occasion and indeed as Albania broke hard on England once in the second half, Burn was left flat on his face. In the first half meanwhile – at the same end at which he had scored against Liverpool – Burn headed one attempted clearance up and down on to the top of the bar. In truth, there was little danger.
His emergence as an international footballer so late in his career is a super story and Burn does not look like the kind who will take it for granted. Equally he was part of an England performance that had started to stutter by the time Harry Kane scored his customary goal with a little less than a quarter of an hour left. In his last 17 qualifiers, England’s captain has failed to score in only three and that says much for Kane’s enduring quality but also the nature of the opposition.
And that is what can make nights like these tricky. It’s always hard to locate and make proper judgement. Tuchel has told us he wishes his team to play Premier League football in terms of tempo and rhythm and energy. But that’s hard when the opponent sits deep and invites you to play through.
So this was not exciting and this was not exhilarating. It did not feel like the dawn of a new age of enlightenment, despite a debut goal for teenager Miles Lewis-Skelly. In fact this was exactly what Gareth Southgate’s England used to give us against opposition like this – a functional and efficient performance.
But Burn was defensively unconvincing on his second trip to Wembley Stadium in six days
Newcastle star Burn pictured waving to fans in the crowd following the final whistle on Friday
Some of the criticism that continues to be aimed at Southgate by many who should know better is shameful. We reached two major finals under him. If Tuchel can reach one next summer, this particular observer will be surprised.
Equally, Southgate did tend to pick teams on loyalty rather than form. It could be puzzling and Tuchel was not guilty of that here. Phil Foden was fortunate to be in and was his team’s worst player. He should not be picked against Latvia on Monday.
Marcus Rashford, playing nicely rather than spectacularly at Aston Villa, had a decent night here. He at least tried to be direct when he had the chance. Curtis Jones did more than most to inject a tempo while Kyle Walker looks to have rediscovered a little of his true self on loan in Milan.
Make no mistake, though. Southgate would not have been feted for this effort and nor should Tuchel. We should not attempt to dress an emperor in new clothes just yet. To butcher a famous Sir Alex Ferguson phrase about Tottenham: ‘Lads, this was Albania’.
