England vs Montenegro: How Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain offered solution to Gareth Southgate’s conundrum

The lead-up to England’s 1,000th international match gave everyone an excuse to pontificate on their all-time XI.

Such an exercise is the sort of football-related fun that always ends in a bit of a spat. Teams are reflective of their “managers”, dependent on the stock you put in players you’ve seen with your own eyes or those whose achievements and legend have pride of place in the history books. With this being England, silverware was never an effective qualifier, unless you wanted the 1966 World Cup-winning side punctuated by a couple of the Le Tournoi massive. Bobby Moore and John Scales, together at last.

Whatever your parameters, a common issue throughout was the midfield. Even with the glut of notable ball-players, dribblers and tacklers through the ages, the combinations in the middle were the hardest to address. Delving further back provided high-quality options out left in the form of Tom Finney and Stanley Mathews, but it was oddly reassuring knowing even having the pick of eras is no remedy for English uncertainty in this area of the pitch.

You might have developed some empathy for previous England managers. Certainly watching England’s 7-0 demolition of Montenegro, you had a slight appreciation of the task facing Gareth Southgate ahead of Euro 2020.

While the men on the flanks pick themselves, it is the identity of the three starters between them, and their alternates, that will occupy most of his thinking between now and next summer. And though today’s new combination featured the 20-year-old Mason Mount and Southgate’s trusted Harry Winks (just 23), it was the oldest of the trio, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who has come into the pack as a bolter on his first start for England in 18 months.

A seventh international goal was the major tick to his name which opened the scoring at Wembley in the 11th minute. Ben Chillwell’s dinked pass was taken down expertly before being rasped into the far corner. It was a fifth goal of the season – for club and country – equalling his output in the 2017/18 season which, from a performance point of view, was his most impressive campaign to date, thriving in a Liverpool side who prospered from all aspects of his game. To have ended it with an injury that kept him out of the majority of 2018/19 was a bitter blow and one might have taken him two steps back.

Thankfully the signs this season are of building on top of rather than rebuilding those foundations. The smarts are still there and the body, touch wood, more robust. He still has the nose for goal, and different types of them too as he displayed with a lovely outside-the-foot finish off the bar against Genk in the Champions League in October. He also seems to have developed the sort of nuance that allows him to be an asset to a side when they are keeping hold of the ball, not simply a player to wind-up and send in one direction as he once was.

That is not to say he has had a complete rebrand. He is still a constant source of energy: when the ball came his way, it was either taken on out of the blocks or shifted after no more than a couple of touches. Granted, tonight’s opposition were drastically off England’s pace, but the way he was out-running players in enclosed spaces while also maintaining positional discipline felt like the same old Ox thriving in a new setting.

He should have had an assist to go with his goal. Occuping a position out on the right to offer Jadon Sancho assistance, his gorgeous cross found Harry Maguire peeling to the back-post, beyond the hapless Montenegro defenders. His header was saved by the keeper but the rebound put away in style by his Manchester United teammate Marcus Rashford to make it 4-0.

Jordan Henderson and Declan Rice were observers at Wembley, while Dele Alli and Eric Dier were not in the squad. James Maddison made his international debut when coming on from the bench to replace Oxlade-Chamberlain and, along with Mount and Winks, there is due to be a host central players who will have every right to be peeved when they do not make the cut for Southgate’s final 23 for the Euros. Should he stay injury-free, Oxlade-Chamberlain should not be one of those disgruntled.

On current form, he should definitely be one of the six midfield options and, perhaps, in England’s most effective trio. He is a player who offers drive, nip and goals. And, you know, he could probably do a job on the left.