England and Italy share a draw in Wembley friendly.

England and Italy share a draw in Wembley friendly.

Firstly, a word of thanks to last night's sponsors Italian Mattresses. Yes folks Italian Mattresses, purveyors of some of the most comfortable mattresses and, for all we know, pillows, quilts, blankets and eiderdowns. Then let us extend our warmest acknowledgement to Vauxhall Motors without whose sponsorship last night's football friendly between England and Italy would never have been possible.

Oh for the rampant commercialism of sport and its financial long term benefits. Where would football be without it and besides there were occasional moments when the perimeter of the Wembley pitch provided the large sections of England and Italy supporters with far more enjoyment than they might have missed had they blinked.

At one point during this slow motion friendly between England and Italy you were tempted to believe that Italian Mattresses had completely outclassed Vauxhall Motors and were simply the dominant force in the first half. Then you opened your eyes again and found that Italian Mattresses were being given the runaround by Vauxhall Motors. Sometimes football can take you to places you thought you'd never be able to reach.

Still the truth was that last night's friendly at Wembley did remind you of a group of  Victorian promenaders at the seaside strolling lethargically along the pier as the men donned their top hats and the women proudly unfurled their umbrellas. There was a very real sense that this was a friendly in every sense of the word. In fact you felt sure that both teams at some point would simply stop playing, relax on some readily available set of deckchairs and perhaps challenge each other to a game of  Trivial Pursuit.

This was England's second friendly in a couple of days and such was the careless indifference shown by both sides that you began to question the validity and necessity for such a pointless fixture. On Friday England beat Holland with some of the most composed and pleasing football that most English supporters had seen for quite a while.

Last night they were faced by Italy. Italy, throughout the ages, have always been renowned for their po- faced defensive caution, catenaccio, prudence of the most tight fisted kind and the ability to just grind their opponents into the dust with superb counter attacking of the most devastating kind.

 Gianni Rivera, their 1970s midfield  genius somehow typified the football the Italians were always capable of producing. There was Sandro Mazzola, a shrewd, visionary player full of silks and rich footballing fabrics. In recent times there was Alessandro Del Piero, a typically quick witted player who could read a game like the most well thumbed book. Italy loved to throw the largest defensive blanket over their game whenever it suited them but last night the blanket was whipped away for a while and for the opening stages of last night's game it was replaced by a much lighter sheet.

But then Italy produced a manger called Enzo Bearzot, a wily and thoughtful man who very rarely showed any semblance of emotion but who did succeed in fashioning an Italian team who could win games and World Cup matches with generous helpings of wit, intelligence and delicacy. Suddenly the defensive chains were cut away for good and Italy revelled in the football niceties rather than those negative, reckless tackling tactics that showed a rather more unsavoury side to their game. Roberto Bettega and Dino Zoff, who won a World Cup as Italy goalkeeper at the age of 40, symbolised the underlying beauty of Italian football.

Sadly though and perhaps incredibly, Italy will not be gracing football with their presence in this summer's World Cup in Russia. It will be like a reputable art gallery without a Monet, Cezanne, Picasso or indeed a Constable. Italy, for all their eccentricities and whimsicalities at times, are still the team to admire, to appreciate, to gaze at lovingly, to command our attention, to provoke comment on and then bow respectfully before because you somehow know that you're in the most honourable company.

There were moments last night at Wembley when you began to wonder what exactly had happened to the Italy of old. You missed that devil, that playful twinkle in their eyes, that deep and emotional attachment to the finer and stylish element in their DNA. It was hard to put last night's game into any proper context because Italy have now reverted to the drawing board and, most unusually, are now in a no man's land. It was once said that Rome was never built in a day and judging by last night's evidence, Italy are very much in the early stages of a major re-construction.

For England of course the work in progress is beginning to take a much more clearer shape. There is a now a much sharper definition to England's football, a more coherent expression about their football and a much more natural flow to their game that to the outsider, had quite clearly been lacking for too long.

Finally England have rid themselves of the burden weighing down on them whenever Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard tried to convince whole generations of recent England managers that there was something there but then discovered the sheer incompatibility of the double pairing. Both Gerrard and Lampard, as we were soon to find out, were almost identical to each other. They were two men performing the same midfield roles and eventually found themselves competing for the same ball and then crashing into each other like two men stuck in a revolving door.

Now though England have the likes of Eric Dier, Spurs versatile holding midfielder-cum centre half, sturdy, steady, capable and coolly imperturbable when under even the slightest pressure. Dier was all rock like stability, strolling forward confidently out of defence as and when required. Then there was the magnificently fast, athletic, bold and permanently overlapping Kyle Walker, a player who will almost certainly lifting the Premier League trophy with Manchester City shortly. Walker is strong, powerful and remarkably nerveless in possession, never ever flustered or agitated in the tightest spot.

Once again Walker's defensive partner at Manchester City John Stones had one of his more reliable games in an England shirt although there were a couple of panicky moments at the start of the game when Stones must have been looking for a corner to hide in. But Stones is one of the best discoveries that English football has produced for many years. He is no Bobby Moore, certainly at the moment, and besides this would be the most preposterous comparison anyway. He is no Emlyn Hughes, that most rugged of warhorses for Liverpool nor is he some knight in shining armour but Stones will undoubtedly be a regular fixture in England's defence for many years to come.

In the middle of the park for England there was the roaming, roving, wing wizardry of Manchester City's young thoroughbred Raheem Sterling, sometimes outstanding and sometimes very mundane. Sterling is certainly the real deal but you do worry about his tendency to drift and dither on the periphery of the action. At times the show pony in Sterling's personality may lead to a complete breakdown in communication with the rest of his England's colleagues. But Sterling's head down, directness and single mindedness have to be credit points in his favour. Sterling is worth his weight in gold and that ferocious determination to run at defenders can only bode well for England.

Then of course there was Ashley Young, now 31 and seemingly a historical footnote in Gareth Southgate's World Cup plans. Young has quietly and sensibly shuffled his way effectively down the wing for Manchester United without ever really setting the world alight. But Young has now accumulated a number of impressive displays for United. Last night Young dovetailed nicely with Sterling, calmly linking with the players around him with a sprinkling of neat touches on the ball.

The story of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain is now a familiar one. Does Gareth Southgate persevere with this potential midfield match winner and easy on the eye playmaker or does he take a step back and think again about Chamberlain? Now Chamberlain has found his bearings after promising so much at Arsenal. It is hard to categorise Chamberlain because it often seems that even he, by his own admission, would be hard pressed to tell you where he fits in. He is a player of bountiful gifts and an excellent footballing brain but perhaps England may find out much more about him after their last two dress rehearsals before the World Cup proper against Nigeria and Costa Rica in early June.

England's opened the scoring on the half hour mark. After an uncertain and tentative start England settled down to the task and the circumstances behind the goal were both bizarre and surprisingly unexpected. After Jesse Lingard, also heavily involved and influential in an England shirt once again, had skipped his way through the Italian defence, Sterling wriggled through to take up possession and was then fouled.

 A brief moment of confusion followed as the referee blew up for a quickly taken free kick.  Lingard slipped the ball through an Italian gap with polished ease and Jamie Vardy, who still has the capacity to score important goals for England, surged through to thump the ball into the Italian net with destructive goal scoring intent. It was a goal England had richly deserved.

In the second half the game seemed to be wind down to walking pace with both teams at times shadow boxing each other and reaching some amicable compromise on the outcome of the game. England lifted the tempo of their delectable passing movements, drilling holes in the Italian defence and then chipping out all the rough edges of a wobbly and vulnerable blue shirted Italian back four.

Then the tide turned quite favourably for the Italians. England had apparently burnt themselves out and unwittingly invited the visitors into their occupied territory. Right at the end of the game when all seemed lost Italy threw their last gamble onto the roulette table. Italy burst into the England penalty area in one last gasp and desperate push for glory. A blue shirt seemed to be bundled over unceremoniously in the England penalty area and after Federico Chiesa had been trampled on, there was the most lengthiest of pauses before the new VAR system eventually decided that the Italians had done enough to win a penalty. Insigne easily tucked home the penalty and the game finished in the most placid draw.

There are number of awkward political obstacles in England's way before they head for Russia in the World Cup but the formations and structures are in place and that very easy going man called Gareth Southgate has a lot to feel good about for England. The trouble is though that we all know what happens to England when they do reach their big World Cup destination. Are there still round holes in square pegs or have England finally hit upon the magical formula to render 1966 as merely ancient history. It is time to hope and wish.