Three Truths: England have a bit of Jurgen Klopp's swagger and some of Spurs' drive

Man of the match on the night for England was arguably Adam Lallana, one of the stars of Liverpool’s table-topping start to the Premier League season under inspirational manager Jurgen Klopp. And it wasn’t just through Lallana that Liverpool’s influence was apparent in the England team. Jordan Henderson had a typically robust performance in central midfield, bringing his club form into international football. And even Daniel Sturridge, who has struggled to force his way into Liverpool’s line-up this year, showed that he is learning plenty from Klopp, with the striker’s movement and positional interplay with wide men Lallana and Raheem Sterling giving England’s front-line an impressively fluid feel.

With this Liverpool crop, and a similarly dynamic group of Tottenham players available, England have the core of a strong team coming together from two clubs who seem to be on an upward trajectory.

Kyle Walker and Danny Rose set up the opening two goals against Scotland and time and again proved the extra man out wide. The Spurs pair’s incessant energy on the flanks allowed Lallana and Sterling the freedom to cut inside and support Daniel Sturridge, while still providing width to the England attack.

It’s the same role that Rose and Walker play for their club side, but it was refreshing to see such intent in wide areas from an England side, particularly with the strength in depth in those positions affording manager Gareth Southgate the luxury of rotating for the next game without overly weakening the squad. With Ryan Bertrand and Nathaniel Clyne waiting in the wings, Walker and Rose can expect to receive a night off against the Spanish next week.

Friday’s defeat leaves Scotland with little hope of qualifying for the World Cup and could spell the end for Gordon Strachan, but it’s not all bad.

There were some eye-catching moments in the team’s performance at Wembley – and not just their appearance in that lurid pink kit.

On more than the odd occasion Scotland opened up England with their aggressive pressing in midfield, and if Strachan had a quality striker at his disposal then the game could have turned out very differently. Unfortunately that’s an important ‘if’, because quality up top seems to be in short supply in the Scottish game right now. Hopefully whoever replaces Strachan is able to stumble across a solution, because at the moment it looks as if the Scots could be waiting some time until their next experience of tournament football.