LESS than two months on from their appearance in the World Cup semi-final, and England have already returned to a more familiar position. On a three-match losing run for the first time in 30 years and facing a relegation battle in the new-look Nations League after just one match, Gareth Southgate’s side have returned to reality. Maybe we weren’t quite world beaters after all.

A harsh assessment given the euphoria of the summer? Possibly. There were positives to be gleaned from Saturday’s defeat to Spain, most notably in the performance of Marcus Rashford, whose partnership with Harry Kane made England more of a threat in the final third than was the case in the summer, and in the continued evolution of the side’s five-man defence. Had referee Danny Makkelie not been so desperate to protect David de Gea in stoppage time, Danny Welbeck would have equalised and England would have emerged with a point.

Even so, though, the assessment of Southgate’s side as flat-track bullies is proving increasingly hard to shake off. Beating Tunisia, Panama, Colombia and Sweden is one thing; overcoming Croatia, Belgium or Spain has proved quite another. When England line up against the very best, they are still generally found wanting.

Their midfield was the key problem area at the weekend, and for all that Southgate has successfully shifted his side’s style away from the kick-and-rush that characterised England’s play in the past, some familiar failings tend to reappear when the pressure is at its most intense.

Spain might have flopped in Russia, but their over-arching philosophies endure. Most nations would have been unable to cope with the retirement of Xavi and Andres Iniesta, two of the greatest midfielders of the last 20 years and the cornerstones of Spain’s tiki-taka approach. Luis Enrique has simply turned to Bayern Munich’s Thiago Alcantara, another midfield metronome who was Saturday’s Man of the Match by a distance as he passed his opponents off the park.

England do not have a player who can do what Thiago does, calmly rotating possession as he drifts across midfield popping off passes and dictating the pace and flow of the game.

They have midfield battlers in the form of Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier, hence their improved defensive resolve in Russia. Further up the field, they boast energetic attacking midfielders in the shape of Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli, players who are keen to break forward to provide a goalscoring threat. But they do not have anyone to knit the two aspects of their play together, and against a leading nation such as Spain, their inability to build and control play is always going to be costly.

It was why Luka Modric was able to cause so much havoc in the semi-final in Moscow, and will no doubt be apparent again when England travel to Croatia for their next Nations League game next month.

Spain’s players pressed the English defence from the outset at the weekend, resulting in a succession of aimless long punts that simply handed the ball back to the visitors. Southgate is right to preach the value of possession, but he either needs to find someone who can hold on to the ball amid the hurly-burly of central midfield or come up with a tactical tinker that gives his side more options in the central third.

“We are under no illusions,” said a commendably honest England boss. “We are still at the early stages of what we want to do. This was a tough test in terms of pressing and a team who are so good in possession. We have to keep reviewing and looking at what we do, but we want to stick to the plan and get better at what we do.

“We are still finding our feet in playing out. We can go back to an old style, but we will never be a top team, or we can stick with what we are doing and accept it won’t always work.

“The system in Spain has produced some of the best midfielders in the world. We are a different profile of player. We can’t play like they do, but we can move the ball. When we are match fitter, we will function better higher up the pitch. It takes time.”

England’s evolution remains a work in progress, and to that end, Southgate will have been satisfied with some of what he saw at the weekend. Joe Gomez slotted in to the back three to provide another centre-half option, Kieran Trippier maintained the sky-high standards he set in Russia and Rashford troubled the Spanish defence all night with his movement between the lines.

The Manchester United forward scored a superb opener, converting a dream of a pass from his team-mate Luke Shaw, who has avoided serious injury despite a sickening clash of heads.

Spain equalised within two minutes, Saul Niguez drilling home after a cut-back from close to the byline, and Rodrigo claimed the winner when some slack English marking enabled him to covert Thiago’s free-kick.