England vs Bulgaria result: 5 things we learned as Gareth Southgate’s side cruise to victory

England cruised to a 4-0 victory over Bulgaria to continue their perfect start to Euro 2020 qualifying.

Harry Kane opened the scoring in the first half after Raheem Sterling pounced on a loose pass from Bulgaria in their own box and cut the ball back for Kane to slot home.

Kane doubled England’s lead from the penalty spot after Marcus Rashford was fouled before teeing up Sterling to turn in a goal of his own.

And Kane fired home another penalty to complete his hat-trick.

Here are five things we learned.

In many ways, Southgate’s team for this game was disappointing. After including both Mason Mount and James Maddison in his squad – two players who are in form and offer something different – Southgate surprisingly stuck with Ross Barkley in midfield. While the England manager may well tinker against Kosovo, he could have afforded to experiment against this Bulgarian side.

Now he faces the conundrum of fitting Mount and Maddison in. In truth, you can only really afford to play one of Mount or Maddison in the same midfield, with the pair occupying similar spaces, and thus one of them will not have an extended opportunity in the side in this international break. One of them should have played against Bulgaria in the place of Barkley, whose qualities are well-known.

England’s first goal came after Raheem Sterling pounced on a loose attempt to play out from the back, with Bulgaria looking to utilise the change to the goal kick law that stipulates that the ball no longer has to leave the box before it is touched by another player.

The problem is that having defenders inside the box simply invites a tighter forward press, as England showed, pushing all three forwards to the edge of the box and then closing in on the defender receiving the ball to force the error.

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Bulgaria are not the first side to cause themselves problems in this manner. Tottenham have created plenty of bother for themselves early on this season by pushing their centre-backs level with Hugo Lloris, who is hugely uncomfortable with the ball at his feet.

Traditional goal kicks have not been outlawed. If you do not have the players to play out from the back then there is little harm in playing the ball long.

Gareth Southgate has settled on a 4-3-3 formation since the conclusion of the World Cup, and England’s version is very much starting to resemble Liverpool’s, particularly the front three.

Wings Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford both like to cut in and get in behind, much like Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, while Harry Kane is beginning to thrive as a creator who drops a little deeper, a la Roberto Firmino.

It is becoming apparent in midfield, too. Southgate seems to be favouring workers in midfield along with one holding player, with Declan Rice getting an extended run in that role. When Ben Chilwell is fully fit and Trent Alexander-Arnold asserts himself as first choice right-back, England will have similarly potent full-backs to Jurgen Klopp’s side.

England have rarely had such a concrete plan heading into a major tournament, and that bodes well.

Declan Rice is an increasingly important figure to this England side, as the only true midfield sitter that Gareth Southgate has at his disposal.

However, Rice looked nervous in his first few England appearances, uncharacteristically loose in possession and at times straying out of position.

This was a much better performance, particularly in the second half. Rice showed why he was lured back from the Irish set-up, firm in the tackle to break up play, simple and accurate with his passing and controlling midfield affairs from the base of the three.

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Another three to Harry Kane’s England tally. The Tottenham striker scored international goals number 23, 24 and 25 in game number 40.

Rooney’s record is 53 goals in 120 games – if Kane continues at this rate he will have 75 at the same stage. And Kane could go on and on – he is not a player who relies on physical gifts, and his immense work rate and the nature of many of England’s qualifying fixtures will offer him plenty of opportunities to get up to and surpass Rooney.