England 2 Andorra 0: Elliot Anderson the winner of the competition that mattered
When Thomas Tuchel declared "the competition is on" at the start of another international break, he was not talking about England v Andorra. Obviously.
Even at their most awful, the Three Lions beat Andorra – see June’s 1-0 away win. At Villa Park on Saturday, the visitors only managed to touch the ball four times in England's penalty area.
So England won, and kept a clean sheet. Just as at home to Latvia and Albania, just like the reverse fixture. The only unusual thing was that for the first time in six World Cup qualifiers, Harry Kane did not score.
Decreasing competitiveness is an issue football must get to grips with – not least in World Cup qualifying.
In rankings terms, pairing England and Andorra is like having Chelsea in the same division as Stockton Town – a point above Guiseley in last season's Northern Premier League.
But there was nothing England could do about that.
The real quiz was not the routine 2-0 victory but the competition to be in an England blazer on the plane to North America for that World Cup.
In some areas – No 10, right-back, wingers – the field is stacked. In others... not so much. Debutant Elliot Anderson was the big winner, with Noni Madueke highly commended.
Thomas Tuchel threw a curveball in the build-up, suggesting Nottingham Forest’s Anderson would be entered in a different category.
Like most modern coaches, Tuchel likes to talk in numbers, not positions. He described Anderson as a "No 8" – a box-to-box midfielder for those not fluent in coach-speak. Against Andorra, though, he was very definitely the "No 6" – the holder, leaving Declan Rice free to turn a 4-2-3-1 into a 4-1-4-1 when he wished.
Rice headed the second goal, not that Anderson was manacled – only a good Iker Alvarez save stopped him beating the Arsenal man to it.
Described by Tuchel as more mobile than Barnsley-born John Stones, who could have been a more fixed six in Serbia on Tuesday but for a muscle injury, Anderson made a couple of good slide tackles when Andorra threatened to break out.
His passing was progressive and on point. Left-back Miles Lewis-Skelly was apparently the only starter more accurate, from less than half as many.
It was Anderson, a European under-21 champion this summer, who slid the pass Madueke clipped in for Christian Gracia to head into his own net after 25 minutes.
He pressed well to win the ball in a 10-minute spell at the start of the second half when England really ought to have doubled their lead. After a one-two with Kane, he looked to have shot beyond Alvarez's grasp, only for a right paw to appear.
Belgrade on Tuesday will be a much sterner test. "For this performance he is clearly in the mix to play in Serbia," commented Tuchel.
Anderson is lucky holding midfield is the position no Englishman wants to play since Arsenal began expanding Rice’s horizons into a more all-round midfielder.
Madueke does not have the same advantage. His Arsenal team-mate Bukayo Saka is the first-choice right winger, but is injured, giving a graduate of a Chelsea academy designed not to produce footballers but transfer market products an opportunity. But he is just at home on the left.
Most of his rivals to play behind Kane – Marcus Rashford, Eberechi Eze, Anthony Gordon, Morgan Rogers, Morgan Gibbs-White, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, maybe by May Jamie Gittens – are not too picky whether they play left, right or centre, which is just as well as Jude Bellingham is likely to have first dibs on the latter.
You would objectively put Madueke towards the bottom of a list that formidable but Tuchel’s job is not to just throw his best players on and hoping it works, but find who fits best and who raises their game.
Where some shrink with Three Lions on their chest, Madueke grows. He linked well with Eze – yet another now at Arsenal – and knew when to make space for right-back Reece James, as for the cross for Rice's 67th-minute clincher.
He dribbled brilliantly for the chance which saw Alvarez deny Eze, then Rashford miss, emblematic of a performance which initially hinted at much more than it delivered.
As for the rest, there was little to get too excited or downbeat about.
Kane fluffed a first-half header from Madueke’s cross but when you have scored in your last five internationals, and 73 England goals in total, you can be cut some slack.
Jordan Pickford and his defence kept a clean sheet but whoop-de-doo – so have the last 14 teams to play Andorra "competitively".
A young crowd bored of it long before the end, empty light blue seats everywhere.
The match had been another England non-contest. At least there had been a competition to follow.
England: Pickford; James (Livramento 69(, Guehi (Konsa 76), Burn, Lewis-Skelly; Anderson, Rice (Rogers 69); Madueke, Eze (Gibbs-White 78), Rashford (Gordon 69); Kane. Unused substitutes: J Henderson, D Henderson, Spence, Loftus-Cheek, Watkins, Bowen, Trafford.
Andorra: Alvarez; Borra, Llovera, Garcia, Olivera, San Nicolas; Rodrigo (Da Cunha 82), Babot (Rebes 90), Vales (Guillen 58), Cervos (Jesus Rubio 90); Fernandez (Lopez 58). Unused substitutes: Pires, De las Heras, Vales, Alex Ruiz, Alexandro Martínez, Da Silva, Marc Garcia.
Referee: A Mohammed (Finland).