Marcus Rashford has made himself the epitome of what Gareth Southgate wants from an England player.
Never mind that Rashford is struggling for game time at Manchester United, just as long as he delivers for his country.
In fact, if Rashford’s frustrations at United make him more hungry when he pulls on the Three Lions shirt then so much the better.
And that is exactly what Rashford has done after two goals in four days might have actually pushed him ahead of Raheem Sterling in the pecking order.
Rashford stole beautifully onto Kyle Walker’s cross, calmly stroked home the 54th minute winner and, never mind a largely lacklustre display, England ended the run of three defeats.
The fans at the King Power Stadium deserve great credit for singing their way through the whole 90 minutes, they still feel the love for Southgate after the heady days of he World Cup.
But as reality bites it does feel as if the summer has gone, banished as a distant memory because these sort of friendlies are the reason that international football can be a turn-off.
Maybe that is what you get from making nine changes and we should expect nothing else other than England looking a bit rusty and lacking rhythm.
But it is still surprising to see some fringe players struggle to lift themselves when it comes to playing for their country.
Jack Butland might just have played himself out of the squad with a nervous performance in goal and one which suggests Southgate cannot go on picking him from the Championship.
Maybe James Tarkowski was undone by Butland’s bag of nerves but there must be question marks as to whether the Burnley defender is England class.
But perhaps the worst example of all was Ruben Loftus-Cheek, a player who is struggling to get a look-in at Chelsea and you would think he would seize this chance with both hands.
But Loftus-Cheek looked cumbersome and slow in midfield, lacking in energy and enthusiasm and the exact opposite of Rashford.
Southgate has been loyal to some of these players after the World Cup but that can only last for so long especially when others start to knock on the door.
Both wing backs, Danny Rose and Trent Alexander-Arnold, impressed with the Spurs left back getting the sponsors’ man of the match and no-one could argue with that.
Alexander-Arnold was bright, full of energy down the right and his pace will make him an alternative to Kieran Trippier while Rose clearly thrives when he pulls on the England shirt.
We should not forget that Switzerland are eighth in the FIFA world rankings, two places below England and are no mugs.
In fact, if you discount beating Colombia on penalties, it was the first time in 12 attempts that Southgate has beaten one of the world’s top 20 nations.
But Switzerland are hardly considered as world beaters and yet were by far the better team in the first half, their movement and quality making it difficult for England to get near them.
Butland was also England’s worst enemy as he scuffed a clearance across the face of his own goal and then a poor pass put Tarkowski under pressure and Xherdan Shaqiri hit the post when he really should have scored.
It was not the start that England would have wanted and there were big gaps in defence, particularly between Tarkowski and Harry Maguire.
Walker’s pace did bail out England’s defence but, at times, he looked as if he was sulking having been a starter in the World Cup and now relegated to the second string.
Swiss full back Ricardo Rodriguez caused problems down England’s left while striker Mario Gavranovic was a constant menace.
Rose went closest for England in the first half, his cross shot was beaten away Swiss keeper Yann Sommer. Southgate must have got into his players at half time and they did improve after the break.
It paid off after 54 minutes when Walker’s cross found Rashford racing in at the back post to fire home. The stadium came alive, the positivity had returned and the run of defeats ended.
England sent on the cavalry shortly after with Harry Kane, John Stones and Jesse Lingard and they looked better for it. Stones made a heroic block to deny Shaqiri but England were quite comfortable in the closing stages.
Leicester’s Ben Chilwell came on for his senior debut to a fantastic reception from his home fans and maybe the best thing about the night was that it showed the fans have not lost heart.
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