Paul Parker: Gareth Southgate’s meritocracy could pay dividends; England need to root out chanting

It was a good performance from England against Germany; it was a level above what we expect from this England. However, we must remember that this was an under-strength Germany side.

Furthermore, the last two good performances we put in against them – in 2001 and 2016 – came to nothing as they outperformed us at the major tournament that immediately followed. We came from two-goals down to beat them in Berlin last year but were then pathetic at the Euros, while they got to the final of the World Cup in 2002 after the 5-1 thrashing.

Gareth Southgate said England should have won but, truth be told, it was all about the performance and England performed well in an unusual formation.

However, can they put in these sorts of performances together when it matters? At major tournaments? It has to be said that they have struggled in recent years. They always fail.

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Adam Lallana put in another fine performance for England; he has developed into one of the national team’s best and more consistent players. He is making that number 10 position his own. He has taken his club form into an England shirt and, let’s be honest, that is rare.

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It is all well and good trying out a new – and unusual formation – in a friendly game against a weakened Germany. However, it is a different scenario altogether when it is a competitive qualifier. English players are coached from a very young age to play in a four at the back so it is a risk to move away from that. That was evident in the performance as England operated with a rigid three at the back – it was not as fluid as the way in which Chelsea play. They have players – like David Luiz – who are more suited to playing that system. The wingbacks were superb, mind. The formation suits both Kyle Walker and Ryan Bertrand.

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He was rarely tested to be fair but that in itself is a measure of the quality of his performance. He did not look out of place at this level but it is now about how he follows that performance up. His next international will be telling.

He has done enough for me to get the nod for the World Cup qualifier against Lithuania. We have a distinct lack of depth at centre-half at the moment. Gary Cahill and John Stones appear to be Southgate’s favoured duo but Keane is a defender first and foremost and for me that gives him the edge over Stones. Cahill was stand in captain yesterday so he is not going to be dropped. Stones is a very elegant footballer but he makes too many mistakes. Week in, week out, Keane does his job properly.

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Southgate has nailed the Rooney situation: he has come out and said if he is not playing regularly for his club then he will struggle to get into the England team. He has made his tenure a meritocracy and thus far he has stood by it. If he is not playing regularly for United then how can he judge him and his form? He can’t.

He has not played a lot of football and Southgate has taken a stance - for which he is due credit. He has to now stand by that and follow through with everybody. It will be interesting to see what the FA and the marketing department make of it. Do they want him to beat Peter Shilton’s record haul of caps? Possibly. He is just six shy of Shilton’s 125.

However, if England are winning games of football then there is no reason to bring him back. There would have to be quite the run of injuries before Rooney is a starter again for Jose Mourinho again.

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Vardy is an okay Premier League player as long as he is scoring goals; he contributes very little else. And for that reason he is not an international footballer. He scored a few goals the last couple of weeks and truth be told he was lucky to get into the squad. He plays off a route one ball and he is a limited player. If you play him then you have to play to suit his style – he can’t play on his own: you need two up if you are going to play him. He is at best an impact player off the bench.

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England fans were again chanting in very poor taste again, and it is hugely disappointing.

This is a problem that England have struggled to root out truth be told – there was some very unsavoury chanting aimed at England players when I first started to represent the national team. The problem becomes more pronounced away from home. It becomes very racist. And it is something we are never going to rid of until we make a point of stopping these people travelling. They need to be filtered out at source. It is as simple as that.

I remember when I played for England B and was told that people didn’t want me playing for England due to the colour of my skin, with deeply insulting racist language. It is not a nice thing to hear as a young player. A strong undercurrent of racism still lurks in football.

These people who are leading and participating in these chants need to have a good look at themselves. They are adults. People need to be banned for that sort of behaviour. When I heard those chants it made think that nothing has changed at all.