WHAT will Gareth Southgate have made of Monday evening at St James Park?

Sloppy errors at the back and pedestrian build-up play are obvious causes for concern, particularly in the first half. Yet surely such failings can partly be excused given that only three starting players had 20+ caps.

England looked like a bunch of strangers because they were.

On the positive side, a sprightly performance by Eberechi Eze was a big plus, as was an impactful cameo by Jack Grealish, the latter seemingly to no avail with the Manchester City winger not expected to make the final 26.  

There is also Cole Palmer to consider. The recently crowned Young Player of the Year was heading to Germany anyway but offered up reassurances that international football is to his liking. Aside from everything else, his 100% record with penalties this season puts him front and centre for shoot-outs.

If the 22-year-old strengthened an already strong case regrettably there were others who probably played themselves out of contention.

Jarrod Bowen’s dynamic industry for West Ham always looks like toil in an England jersey while up front Ollie Watkins struggled for his second audition running.

Last time out, the Aston Villa man was all-but-anonymous against Brazil and in both outings combined he has lost possession 14 times and won only one ground duel in five. There has been two big chances missed too.

All of which presents a golden opportunity for Ivan Toney to secure the understudy striker’s role for the Euros, that’s assuming Southgate repeats his strategy from the last double-header of friendlies in giving each forward an hour-plus.

For all that Toney has fired blanks for Brentford in recent months he impressed against Belgium, scoring from the spot and making himself a nuisance, and arguably the Bees hit-man had the edge anyway by being closer in playing style to Harry Kane.

If he pulls Iceland’s defence out of shape at Wembley on Friday evening then a squad spot awaits.

Back Toney to score at 12/25

Beyond Toney’s participation the rest of Southgate’s attacking roster on Friday amounts to a guessing game with the fitness levels of Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka not confirmed. Should both be available it makes sense to feature them either side of Toney, to give the Arsenal flyer minutes and to make a final assessment on Gordon following an outstanding 2023/24, but in truth the Newcastle winger’s claim is already a persuasive one.

In addition to his 21 Premier League goal involvements and propensity to win a spot-kick – eight of the Magpies’ 11 pens last season were won by the former Everton ace – he has also proven at Under 21 level that he can perform well centrally.

His squad inclusion will make Southgate feel a lot more comfortable about taking only two centre-forwards to Germany.

In defence meanwhile, we can expect Kyle Walker and John Stones to start on Friday, the latter’s partner in the middle up for debate. Guehi again? A full debut for Branthwaite? The Toffees stopper deserves a proper run-out, that much can be said.

Lastly, we get to midfield, finding ourselves on surer footing here. Declan Rice will start while Kobbie Mainoo will hope to replicate his assured display against Belgium back in March.

From all the names mentioned above it is Gordon who stands out in the betting though. In 2023/24, Newcastle’s player of the year committed to a shot every 35.8 minutes.

As for the game itself naturally we should expect a different Iceland to the one who shocked England out of Euro 2016. Indeed, this might be a different Iceland to twelve months ago, that being when Age Hareide took the reins for the first time.

After performing wonders with Denmark across four years a big improvement was anticipated from Strakamir Okkar (Our Boys) on his appointment so it was a surprise when Iceland were downed by Slovakia in his opening game. That was swiftly followed by a more routine loss to Portugal.

Since then though the team ranked 72 in the world have been a decent proposition in 2024, Hareide leaning into a young crop of talent and orchestrating back-to-backs wins in friendlies, then a thrashing of Israel in their Euro qualifying play-off semi.

They were the better team for chunks of their play-off final against Ukraine too and can consider themselves unfortunate not to be competing this summer.

Their upturn in fortunes has been mirrored by striker Albert Gudmundsson coming to the fore. The 26-year-old concluded his league campaign with five in nine for Genoa and has bagged four in two for Iceland after being cleared for selection following a criminal investigation.

On reputation, friendlies produce fewer cards to competitive fixtures, but the last five involving England have averaged 3.4 yellows per 90. Back over 2.5 cards at 10/13

As for England, a clean sheet was needed on Monday as much as a win, and with a shut-out secured we can perhaps move on from the defensive frailties shown in the spring. A settled partnership at the back will help, when injuries permit.

When looking at the bigger picture, what is striking is that the Three Lions were flat-track bullies for several years deep into Gareth Southgate’s tenure, that was until Hungary stunned them twice-over. Since those losses however, England have played teams ranked outside the top 25 on nine occasions. They have won eight, drawn one, to an aggregate score-line of 30-2.

And it’s pertinent too when those goals have arrived. Nine of England’s last 12 have been converted after the break while 10 of the last 12 Iceland have conceded have come in the second half.

Back England 2 Iceland 0 as a second half correct score at 5/2

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