England player ratings against Spain: Arsenal, Man City partnership collapses as only two impress

A couple of England players acquitted themselves very well against the champions, but that defence is an absolute mess and needs changing.

Remember when Gareth Southgate had four competent right-backs in every squad?

James Trafford
When told of Thomas Tuchel’s plan to give him the first two games of this break before restoring Jordan Pickford for the last couple of matches, Trafford will have appreciated being thrown in at the deep end. Within a couple of minutes he might have preferred the comparative softball of Croatia (a) and Czechia (h).

Trafford could be blamed neither for that Yamal strike, nor really Baena’s equaliser and Oyarzabal’s winner. The Leeds No.1 did produce a fine save one-on-one from Torres, and one wonderful pass out to O’Reilly to launch a second-half counter, having looked understandably uncomfortable against the Spain press. It was a fine enough competitive international debut.

Jarell Quansah
A compelling reminder that just because someone can play at right-back, it doesn’t mean they should. Ever. In any circumstance. Even if their altruistic sacrifice made one of England’s greatest modern moments possible.

While the Mexico game didn’t trigger an automatic revocation of Quansah’s full-back licence, this might. At pretty much no stage did he look even vaguely settled in an admittedly mediocre defence, struggling against the twin threats of Williams and Cucurella before giving Baena an absurd amount of time and space to create the winner.

It was Quansah’s abdication of responsibility for the chance Torres missed when clean through which underlined how far he currently is from the required level. He should have read the developing situation far better to track the run with both centre-halves out of position, instead of staying with Williams wide on the right and trying to play offside at the last second.

Bonus points for hammering a corker of a shot directly into Cucurella’s face, but overall just not close to what England need.

Ezri Konsa
It does seem as though the World Cup has entirely broken Konsa on a fundamental level for England. The composed, dominant Aston Villa leader unravelled in the States and, certainly for his country, has yet to recover.

The two first-half chances Torres squandered exposed Konsa: already pulled out of position, he gave Yamal too much space to operate in for the first; then for the second should have taken responsibility as the senior defender to either watch and block the run or tell Anderson to come across.

Quite what his plan was for the third goal remains unknown, but based on the rest of the game it won’t have been particularly effective. While his mistakes were less obvious than those made by his team-mates, they were just as amateurish and damaging.

Marc Guehi
If this is England’s defensive blueprint, it should be incinerated. Guehi set the tone for an abysmal performance at the back with the sort of situational awareness he previously reserved for passing away Premier League titles which might have soon been deemed illegitimate anyway.

He eventually settled somewhat after that, which is to say he still looked nervous throughout but did manage not to directly assist an opponent again, and that is progress. But Guehi’s midfield deployment remains deeply unconvincing.

Nico O’Reilly
For much of the game, O’Reilly was one of precious few in white who actually held his own against the world champions; he didn’t look glaringly out of place against that calibre of player, didn’t shirk the challenge and actually showed for the ball.

A case in point: the run into space Guehi neglected to use just before the opening goal, which would have pushed England through Spain’s press for a counter.

O’Reilly basically made the second goal himself with an interception, a couple of one-twos with Anderson and Gordon and a great cross to Kane.

But he also manufactured Spain’s equaliser, almost getting caught in possession before compounding that with a careless pass. O’Reilly is exceptional going forward but does that offset his defensive weaknesses in an already porous England team? And can we please try him on one side with Trent Alexander-Arnold on the other, just for a laugh?

Elliot Anderson
An admirable Graeme Souness-goading display of quarterbackery in Declan Rice’s absence.

Anderson was really good. Some of his passes were wonderful and England didn’t construct many moves without him having laid the foundations first; it was his ball which started the move for Gordon’s equaliser.

But the sheer frequency with which he was the last man back, having dropped into a space which theoretically should have been between two centre-halves who in reality rarely actually occupied those spaces when Spain broke, was alarming.

That is a fault of structure and other players as much as it is Anderson, although he could have dealt with a couple of situations far better.

Myles Lewis-Skelly
Lee Dixon rolled out his Paul Gascoigne comparison again when discussing Lewis-Skelly, which admittedly isn’t the first parallel which comes to mind for the layman.

The pundit has previously cited similarities in how “he uses his weight and his strength” to “almost allow players to catch up” and then “bounce them off him”, which did accurately sum up how Lewis-Skelly glided past Rodri at one point in the first half.

There was also a fine pass into the area for Saka in the second which came to nothing on the most understated, 6/10 evening imaginable.

Bukayo Saka
No player had more touches in the opposition box than Saka, but the one that comes to mind first of his ten is the one which gave Laporte just enough of an opportunity to poke the ball away after Lewis-Skelly’s pass.

There was some good work from Saka to set up Kane just after Gordon’s goal as England built up a head of steam, but as ever there wasn’t an abundance of change out of Cucurella.

Jude Bellingham
A trademark 90 Bellingham minutes: some subtle excellence on the ball and tireless work off it which will go under the radar, all underpinned by his maximising of the moments.

The composure and timing to set up Gordon’s goal; the anticipation to win the penalty from Rodri; the sublime ball in which Quansah should have buried.

It might be the case against any team, but especially when facing opposition of this calibre Bellingham is quite comfortably England’s most important player.

Anthony Gordon
Laid down a marker to become the indisputable right-wing starter, while also establishing his punditry credentials with his prescient pre-match words about how “we can’t keep looking at other countries and trying to be like them, because we’re not them – we’re English and we have our own strengths which they don’t have, so maybe we start playing the way we’re good at”.

Fair play, because that equaliser made for a persuasive argument. Within three touches – a sumptuous backheel flick, his control of Bellingham’s pass and a confident finish – Gordon tore directly through Spain’s centre to spark an England comeback.

He completed as many dribbles as both the rest of his team-mates and the entire Spain team combined (four each), and combined it with a defensive shift which perhaps necessitated a substitution that nevertheless triggered ‘nam flashbacks.

Harry Kane
Did exceptionally well to generate any momentum on the header for England’s second goal, and will look back knowing it was probably a better idea to score a penalty at 2-1 up rather than miss it before losing 2-3. That is a glaring error in hindsight.

James Garner (on for Lewis-Skelly, 69)
He misplaced a single pass, but on this evidence Garner is likelier to play at right-back than in central midfield over the next couple of weeks for England.

Morgan Rogers (on for Gordon, 69)
One great ball across deserved someone on the end of it; one hilariously overhit cross summed up England’s decisions and execution on the ball when chasing an equaliser.

Morgan Gibbs-White (on for Saka, 81)
The real quiz: Gibbs-White played nine minutes plus stoppages, but only four players had more touches in the opposition box, and just Yamal and Bellingham had more xA. The TikTok was worth it.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (on for Kane, 82)
Quite literally had a single touch. And committed as many fouls. Leeds, that.

Jarrad Branthwaite (on for Guehi, 88)
Gave the ball away to threaten a late Spain attack, which does suggest England defenders shooting themselves in the foot is a new and curious directive.