England kicked off their Euro 2016 qualification campaign with a 2-0 win in Switzerland. What did you make of the performance? Here's Matthew Stanger with his player-by-player guide...
Tuesday 9 September 2014 15:43, UK
Joe Hart
Made two excellent saves to deny Haris Seferovic and showed good distribution to send Raheem Sterling darting down the left on two occasions. It was a decent night for England's undisputed No.1.
John Stones
Faced a big test against the Swiss footballer of the year, Ricardo Rodriguez, but handled himself well on his competitive debut. The biggest concern regarding Stones is that he lacks the pace to provide attacking support in a diamond formation. England would be much stronger in this system with a fully fit and in-form Kyle Walker.
Gary Cahill
Despite now being England's senior starting defender, Cahill still looks unsure of himself without John Terry alongside him, which isn't good news when his new centre-back partner is Phil Jones. Still, it was a terrific block to deny Josip Drmic and an important clean sheet to kick-start the campaign.
Phil Jones
Allowed Seferovic to get the wrong side of him in the first half and escaped punishment when the pair collided. Then played a poor pass to put Xherdan Shaqiri away before Hart denied Seferovic. Almost scored with a powerful low header on half-time, but Jones still has a lot of work to do on his defensive game. It's 18 months since Sir Alex Ferguson said he could be Manchester United's greatest ever player, but thus far the 22-year-old has done little to justify that glowing praise.
Leighton Baines
Similar to Stones, Baines lacks the pace to be a convincing threat on the counter-attack, but he still supported the front line when the opportunity arose. It's difficult to shake the feeling that he's facing a losing battle to hold on to his place when Luke Shaw finally gets going at Old Trafford.
Jack Wilshere
Defensive midfield is clearly not his position. Did his best work going forward - notably an excellent pass to Wayne Rooney in the first half and low deflected drive after the break - but looked uncertain of his responsibilities in a new role. Was reluctant to collect the ball off the centre-backs throughout his 73 minutes and guilty of losing it on one occasion with a careless dribble when there was ample space for Switzerland to break in behind. Can do better.
Fabian Delph
A positive display despite two rash challenges in the first half. The best word to describe Delph's performance is 'energetic', but he also showed composure on the ball to record the highest pass completion rate of all starting players with an impressive 97%. His forward bursts helped to put Switzerland under pressure while he should arguably have had a penalty when he was brought down by Johan Djourou. Will need to keep his cool from the start in future.
Jordan Henderson
After the worries about his fitness it was a quiet evening for Henderson as he kept things ticking over in the engine room. Provided a good low cross to Sterling - who missed his kick - early in the second half, but failed to provide the runs from deep that usually create space for his Liverpool teammates to exploit. It's strange to think that his possible absence was seen as a mini-crisis before only his third competitive start.
Raheem Sterling
Not his best performance, but still a game in which he made a telling contribution with a brilliant ball to set up the opening goal. After venting his frustration at Danny Welbeck's poor cross in the first half, Sterling showed his teammate how it's done, driving a perfect pass across the six-yard back for the striker to smash home. He may only have nine caps, but Sterling is already vital for England.
Danny Welbeck
Two excellent finishes to strengthen his calls to play in the centre more often, and a poor cross to Sterling in the first half that perhaps reiterates his point. Welbeck should have done better after nicking the ball off Steve Von Bergen's toe, but took his two strikes well, demonstrating his devastating pace to keep up with Sterling for the first and steering the second past Yann Sommer to end another counter-attack. His first England goals for a year were hugely welcome to Hodgson and England.
Wayne Rooney
An impressive performance to lead the team to an encouraging victory. Rooney looked off the pace against Norway but on Monday he was involved in plenty of promising attacking play, particularly the move for Welbeck's opener. His delivery from set-pieces was also good, while he tested Sommer with two of his three efforts on goal, the second spilled in comical fashion.
Subs
James Milner (for Jack Wilshere, 73)
We barely noticed him, which sounds about right for a player who has the trademark on 'quietly effective'.
Phil Jagielka (for Phil Jones, 77)
May feel he should have started ahead of Jones and may yet win back his place.
Rickie Lambert (for Wayne Rooney, 90)
Probably didn't expect to be booked and set up a goal when he was sent on in the 90th minute.
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