Edy Reja has achieved much in his managerial career. He began working his way up the leagues in Italy more than forty years ago and counts among his modest but worthy successes the resurrection of Napoli, with whom he won two consecutive promotions to reclaim their place in Serie A.
His Napoli team has been overshadowed by the slicker and more reliable sides that followed his departure in 2009, but they certainly packed a punch. Reja can take some credit for putting Napoli where they are today but leading Albania to their first FIFA World Cup by qualifying from a group boasting Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski would have been his greatest triumph of all.
Alas, such lofty designs were likely predicated on stifling either or both of those strikers in Tirana and picking up points where none were expected. 38 minutes into Albania’s home tie with England – the second Group I qualifying match for Gareth Southgate’s team – Kane broke what was threatening to become an uneasy deadlock with a piece of classic centre forward play.
England wasted little time in mastering the long grass and stuck to their task against Reja’s determined defensive unit. A new-look back four comprising a quartet of old faces were untested at the other end until a lazy Mason Mount pass launched an Albania attack from which Myrto Uzuni should have opened the scoring.
On the ball, though, the defence’s work was more progressive. Shaw and Walker supported the attack while midfielders Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips found spaces and set England’s tempo through the middle of the park.
His early mistake and tactical questions about his and Phil Foden’s positioning notwithstanding, Mount delivered another fine display on the ball. He was twice involved in Kane’s opener, latterly with a neat backheel – the pass before the pass, and not for the first time – to tee up a tempting crossing opportunity for Shaw.
The Manchester United full back was restored to the England squad on the strength of a resurgence in his club form and he repaid Southgate’s faith with a pinpoint delivery to the back post, where Kane launched himself across his snoozing marker to send a delightful diving header into the corner of Etrit Berisha’s net.
The England captain’s 33rd international goal might not have looked much but it was everything Poland, Albania and the rest of Group I must have feared about him when the qualifying draw was made. It was, in short, a proper striker’s goal.
From there, England made light work of their hosts. It was never much more than a professional job well handled but the efficiency of the result was satisfying and England, for the second match in a few days, carried nobody.
Kane came close to doubling their lead before half time, sniffing at the back post once more to thump Raheem Sterling’s irresistible cross against Berisha’s crossbar, but the story of the game’s third quarter was one of England keeping Albania at arm’s length while probing on autopilot for a second goal to kill the contest.
Sterling was instrumental, intercepting the ball with England pressing high before Kane sent Mount clear in the left channel. His gorgeous finish over Berisha and into the side netting at the far post was a reminder to his critics that seven consecutive England starts isn’t something that happens by accident.
That was Reja’s point of no return but Southgate was frustrated. He wanted more and should have had it; 4-0 wouldn’t have flattered England, such was their dominance for an hour in Tirana.
Cruelly, England’s best pair of opportunities late in the game were both squandered by terrible passes by substitute James Ward-Prowse, who can and usually does do better and whose smart running beyond the Albanian defence was wholly responsible for the creation of those chances in the first place.
Nevertheless, England extended their positive start to qualifying by racking up their sixth and seventh goals without reply, taking stand-in goalkeeper Nick Pope to six international appearances with no goals conceded.
And he is a stand-in. The Burnley man is an outstanding goalkeeper in the Premier League and there are many reasons for Southgate to prefer him to the sometimes reckless Jordan Pickford, but prefer him he does not.
With the ball at his feet Pickford remains vital to England’s playing style and simply swapping him out for a goalkeeper in better form does not entirely replace him. In Albania, Pope’s first involvements on the deck were every bit as concerning as Pickford’s madcap moments.
He nearly got caught short early on and then shanked his first kick out of play before spending the rest of the afternoon passing to anybody and nobody, notably different from Pickford’s undeniable contribution to England as a passing team capable of turning the opposition in one ball.
Thus, England’s win in Albania probably left Southgate with puzzles to solve despite his claim that June’s opening UEFA EURO 2020 line-up is already clear in his mind. The broad strokes are in place but the picture will change between now and the summer, and fundamental matters of England’s tactics are vulnerable to form and fitness.
The talent available to Southgate makes a 2-0 away win in Tirana a routine result but his ability to find the combination from within this exceptional group of players remains in question.
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Chris Nee
@SphinxFtbl