England beat Greece 3-0 in the UEFA Nations League.

 England beat Greece 3-0 in the UEFA Nations League.

So let's get the formalities out of the way. England are on the verge of promotion to a much better group of European nations in their quest to reach the latter stages of the UEFA Nations League. Are we all clear on that one? Sometimes football tends to lose itself completely in the translation and a full, detailed explanation is perhaps all we need. But this is increasingly looking like the one international football competition that remains in some dark room with the door well and truly locked. 

But the impression is that England are about to arrive at some bizarre fancy dress party with outlandish clothes, strange dynamics and an ultimate conclusion that still beggars belief. The UEFA Nations League is that interim European football tournament where nobody really loses as such but none particularly care whether their country lifts this novice trophy or not. It's hard to know whether England should be in a buoyant mood or just happy to be playing other countries in Europe regardless of the eventual outcome. 

Lee Carsley's England beat Greece in the Olympic Stadium of Athens where once athletes of all abilities and immense gifts proudly flaunted their natural strength, endurance and remarkable agility. The spirit of Baron Pierre De Coubertin followed the England football team both spiritually and emotionally all the way to a comfortable 3-0 victory, dispelling any underlying fears that this is one competition that they should find both degrading and completely beneath them.

Adittedly, this is not the European Championship and thank goodness for that. We're all acutely aware now that England have suffered more than enough humiliation in recent times. The two consecutive Euro Final defeats to respectively, Spain and Italy, have left some nasty psychological scars on the England camp. Gareth Southgate, their former manager, did his utmost to restore some semblance of credibility, changing attitudes and mentalities along the way. But last night felt like one of those exercises in rehabilitation and recovery that must have felt very good but should never disguise nagging shortcomings. 

England are still far from the finished article, a team still wearing hard hats, high viz orange jackets and mixing huge quantities of cement. There are still loose bricks in the foundations, the structure and framework of the building is far from stable, yet to meet the required health and safety specifications but there are no windows or doors. The nuts and bolts are there but the chief components are still missing. England are a work in progress and labour of love, perhaps a tad naive and gullible. But not necessarily cliched. 

When Lee Carsley inherited this England squad from Southgate, he must have known what he was letting himself in for. The England job, although not yet a poisoned chalice, has all the makings of one of those booby traps where something very unsavoury could yet blow up in their faces. England have yet to acquire the status of trapeze artists on a circus high wire but you really wouldn't want to swap places with any of the players on show.

With so many England regulars crocked and injured, England were at the highest altitude and there were no safety nets. Instead what we had last night an England team consisting of promising teenagers, burgeoning talents but nothing in the way of familiarity. This is not to imply that these were strangers in the night because Sinatra would never have known what to make of England football teams anyway. 

This was a patchwork quilt England side, a team  strong on both individuality and team ethics but whose knowledge of the bigger picture around the world may still be a bewildering one to many of them. This has always been an ongoing project for whoever may be brave enough to undertake what often turns into the most traumatic ordeal. 

Most of England's hardiest and devoted fans have been to hell and back with England over the years. Besides, some of us just hate roller coasters anyway. There have been two major Euro Finals and a World Cup semi final in the World Cup of Russia in 2018. In hindsight the very mention of Russia at all is simply repulsive and if we'd known it at the time England would never have embarked on that journey but we must be grateful for small mercies.

But for 90 minutes, yesterday evening in Athens felt like the conquest of Mount Olympus. There were no Herculean feats this time although this one felt extremely satisfying. England must have felt purged and cleansed, revived and revitalised after the Greeks had broken too many plates at Wembley last month. The Greeks 2-1 victory still feels like a painful scab on the skin of too many England players. This though may be the time to move on. There are bad days at the office and ones where the photocopier stubbornly refuses to work so let's put this one down to experience.

The truth of the matter is though that England are close to promotion in the UEFA Nations League and that has to be a jolly fine thing. Eventually England may reach another major European tournament Final and that has to be something to get excited about. The reservations and questions are, it has to be said, frustratingly on the surface of any conversation about football. This is all very new fangled and yet to find acceptance in some quarters.

Last night England met the criteria at every level. They were smooth, fluent, professional and extremely accomplished at times. Their football was a joyous antidote to all of the other problems that may exist in Britain's often troubled political world. Their passing was of the most exquisite quality and the white shirts looked to be on the same page for much of the game. Once again there was a fundamental understanding of the game, their cohesion and clarity of thought a cause of much rejoicing and almost relief given what happened at Wembley in October. 

England's football had the kind of streetwise intelligence and the sweetest of fragrances. The ball has become more or less a very close friend to them, controlling and manipulating the ball with both a heartwarming touch and subtlety that resonated with all the purists. There were hundreds of triangles, rectangular and perfectly geometrical patterns in the middle of the pitch that cut open Greek lines with a swiftness and incisiveness that must have thrilled Lee Carsley. 

At the back of the England's players thoughts will be Thomas Tuchel, England's new manager, who will be monitoring activities from some far off corner of Europe. Tuchel could be the answer to all of England's fondest dreams. The long term future for England is still in up in the air and abeyance. Nobody knows anything about Tuchel's credentials at international level but we shall see. 

And yet England,at times, looked like men who were trying to piece together a complex model railway set. From time to time there were bits missing such as signalling equipment, warped tracks and not a sign of a platform guard with a paddle to usher in the train. So England had to make do with football was that basic and essential because nobody would ever take this seriously. There was a rigorous efficiency and technical competence about England which was surprisingly impressive.

However after seven minutes England received just the boost they were looking for. Chelsea's exciting young winger Noni Madueke had already been proving a handful for the Greek defence. But the way Madueke so cleverly and brilliantly turned his defender inside out on the flank, must have briefly reminded you of  Peter Barnes or Steve Coppell from yesteryear. The Chelsea youngster looked to have no worries whatsoever, teasing, taunting and scheming relentlessly before cutting the ball back low across the six yard area where Aston Villa's natural striking poacher Ollie Watkins instantly steered the ball into the net for England's opening goal. 

Before the match, some of us were wondering what happened to captain Harry Kane but Watkins stepped up to the plate with persistent hassling and hustling of his defenders. It was never a centre forward's masterclass but Watkins was certainly classy. England continued to set up ever increasing circles in their opponents half and the tapestries of vivid attacking colour were always in evidence. Both Ezri Konsa and Conor Gallagher were moving the Greeks and the ball with a confidence and trust in their judgment that was both heartening and gratifying. 

Once again Kyle Walker, although in the twilight of his career, is as fast as a cheetah and just races back into his position at full back when fires need to be put out. Walker reads the game like a sixth form student swotting for his chemistry exams, still looking indomitable, secure and wisely experienced. Marc Guehi, of course, is still learning the ropes of the game with Crystal Palace and does grow in stature and assurance with every England appearance. Liverpool's Rico Lewis is literally wet behind the ears but has a commendable maturity about him that could send him a long way. Lewis loves to take on all comers, running purposefully at players and weaving his way through the heaviest tackling as if he'd been doing it for years. 

And then there was Jude Bellingham. By his own elevated standards, Bellingham was never the motivational force that England were hoping for in Euro 2024 although he did score England's opening goal in the tournament. Last night, Bellingham was unstoppably brilliant and truly breathtaking on the ball, a force of nature who just breezed past the blue shirts of Greece as if they were petrified ghosts in a haunted castle. He tricked, back heeled insolently and rudely interrupted the Greek flow. He controlled the game like a pilot navigating a long haul flight for the thousandth time. He created time and space, analysing his options with a care and vigilance beyond his years. 

Any comparisons with Paul Gascoigne are both inappropriate and invidious since Bellingham shows little inclination to refuel from dentist chairs or swigging back innumerable quantities of Fosters lager. There is neither desire or inclination to stuff his face with one kebab after another and no sign of self destruction. Bellingham seems to know everything there is to know about moderation and once again gave his opponents plenty to think about. 

By the middle of the second half, England had taken their feet off the accelerator, tapping out Morse Code messages on the grass with simple, easy passes. For a moment you tried to imagine the England football team trying to decipher the Enigma code at Bletchley Park and wondering whether there was any point. But every time they had the ball, you suspected there was some kind of undercover and clandestine plot because it all looked very confidential and secretive. 

But there was nothing furtive going on last night. England were open and expansive, spreading the occasional floated diagonal overload of lofted, angled passes to either Walker in space or Guehi on the other flank, overlapping consistently and encouragingly all the time. Then Gallagher began to pick up the ball and searched for gaps in a tiring Greek defence, giving and taking with either Lewis or Jude Bellingham.

Now a second goal almost seemed inevitable and it was that man Jude Bellingham again who took all the plaudits and bouquets of praise and deservedly so. Now Bellingham, gallivanting into space, received the ball after a spellbinding blur of quick, one touch passes in midfield had sent him through. The Real Madrid midfield maestro went on a magnificent surging, powerful run at the heart of the Greek defence, looked up almost automatically and cracked an unstoppable, low shot that had goal written all over it. The ball flew past the Greek keeper Odyseseseas Vlachodimos and despite a last gasp attempt at a save, he saw the ball trickling past him and nestle in the net. 

Then with minutes to go and the game now seemingly beyond the home side's reach, the goal of the night appeared on the radar and how delighted we were that we witnessed it. Jarrod Bowen, the West Ham striker who came on as a late substitute, gathered speed on the right, inviting his defender to bring him down for a foul but then accelerating away. We were expecting something special from Bowen and we were not to be disappointed. 

 Bowen, sensing an opportunity, fed the ball into Morgan Gibbs White, also on as a sub and the Forest attacker nudged the ball intelligently into the path for an onrushing colleague whose low cut back into the six yard box found the Liverpool striker Curtis Jones who impudently back flicked the ball with his foot and the ball flashed past Vlachodimos for a signature third goal that underlined England's vast attacking superiority.

So England return to Wembley on Sunday for their second assignment of the week. Their meeting with the Republic of Ireland is more or less a non-event since England seem certain to  move on in the UEFA Nations League at a fair lick. Whatever your opinions on this new competition, the fact is that the sceptics may have to get used to it since it's here to stay. England expects but not for the time being perhaps.