EVEN when Gareth Southgate bowed to popular demand and started Jack Grealish, England failed to thrill us.
The England boss is locked in a permanent conflict with popular opinion over the merits of Manchester City’s £100milllion crowd-pleaser.
But while Grealish makes England more enjoyable to watch, does he make them more effective? Not on this evidence.
The most memorable contributions from the most expensive England player of all time, were a nasty lunge which earned him a booking and a spectacular collision with team-mate Tammy Abraham on the edge of his own penalty area.
Grealish is always the best-turned-out in the parade ring but here, against some stereotypically robust Italian marking, he kept running into brick walls and losing possession.
These Nations League fixtures are becoming a tough watch – and it is no fault of Southgate’s that four of them have been scheduled at the end of such an arduous club season.
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The England boss has taken on accusations of caution and conservatism head-on in his pre-match press conference on Friday – and you could almost guess that it would end up 0-0 after that.
This wasn’t the worst goalless draw you will ever see – the first half was eventful and a couple of excellent saves from Aaron Ramsdale, deputising for Jordan Pickford, kept England level after Mason Mount had crashed an early effort against the bar.
There were a few positives – Declan Rice was excellent in midfield and AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori, on his full England debut, recovered from a shaky start to perform diligently.
But we are not learning a huge amount from these fixtures, except for the fact that we could all do with a break from football – not least the footballers.
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This was a repeat of last summer’s Euros final but the atmosphere could hardly have been any different as the FA were punished for the disorder at Wembley last June.
With a couple of thousand schoolkids allowed in, despite the UEFA punishment, Molineux sounded like a soft play area at half-term – a high-pitched assault on the eardrums.
Some of them booed the Italian national anthem – “inherited thinking”, as Southgate said of the Hungarian children who booed England taking the knee in Budapest last weekend.
Hungary come here to Molineux on Tuesday for the final match of a long old campaign.
The enthusiasm for a fourth meeting with Hungary in less than a year will hardly be at fever pitch – although that fixture has sold-out, which shows a certain strange devotion.
Southgate had made six changes from Tuesday’s draw in Germany – Serie A’s Abraham and Tomori included, along with the nation’s darling, Grealish.
It was a lively start was and Italy ought to have been in front inside two minutes.
Matteo Pessina’s through-ball caught Tomori flat-footed but Davide Frattesi dragged his shot wide across goal.
England began with a pack-of-dogs high press, which soon spooked Gianluigi Donnarumma, whose poor pass was seized upon by Abraham, out-muscling Manuel Locatelli but shooting wide.
Southgate’s men were moving the ball with more pace and purpose than in Munich and Mount exchanged pases with skipper Raheem Sterling before he crashed a shot against the bar.
Rice volleyed over from a James Ward-Prowse corner but Italy created the best chance of the first half.
Locatelli’s delicious crossfield pass picked out Giovani Di Lorenzo, whose cushion-volleyed centre found Sandro Tonali – but what looked a certain goal was denied when Ramsdale stuck out his left leg to save.
Grealish was energetic but frustrating. He ought to have done better with a blocked shot from a Reece James cut-back and then he was booked for a reckless lunge at Federico Gatti.
Gianluca Scamacca, the centre-forward wanted by Arsenal, then blazed over from close-range with an effort which would have made Mikel Arteta wince as well as Roberto Mancini.
The half finished in chaotic fashion for England. First Ramsdale tipped over the bar from a deflected Pessina shot.
Then Grealish and Abraham collided on the edge of the England box but Tomori spared their embarrassment by blocking another Pessina effort.
Sterling passed up a glaring chance soon after the break, connecting with a dangerous James cross but spooning over from four yards.
Abraham, who’d scored 27 goals for Roma this season, had laboured and on 65 minutes, Southgate sent for Kane in his place, also introducing Kalvin Phillips and Jarrod Bowen.
Kane drove over the bar 12 minutes from time and Southgate called for Bukayo Saka in place of Sterling.
But there was to be no breakthrough for Southgate’s side – with Grealish looking increasingly peripheral.
At least the volume of criticism aimed at the England boss for his supposed failure to appreciate the golden boy may decrease a little after this.
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Although, the schoolchildren greeted the final whistle with shrill booing and the PA system blasted out: ‘I Just Can’t Get Enough’
Who were they trying to kid?
Mason Mount was guilty of squandering a couple of first half chances
