England starts the 2024 European Championship with a win – but there’s the well-known problem of lack of control

Jude Bellingham was not going to take this lying down. He didn’t allow Serbia to fight their way back into the sport and when it was over, he didn’t allow anyone to spoil his or England's mood.

In the post-match press conference, it was emphasised to him that while the primary half against Serbia had shown why England were among the many favourites to win the 2024 European Championship, the second half had highlighted the weaknesses that would ultimately be their undoing.

“I don't really agree with that,” said the 20-year-old, who scored England's goals within the 1-0 win in Gelsenkirchen. “The first half shows why we can score goals against any team and the second half shows why we can score a clean goal against any team.”

Bellingham said there was “always a negative theme” when it comes to the general public and media response to England's performances – “and sometimes rightly so” – but he preferred to stress the positive.

In the second half within the Veltins Arena, they’d to “hold out at times and suffer a little,” but they won the sport. And: “This team is still new,” he added, “and is growing together from game to game.”

He made some good points, not a lot the one England had proved by beating Serbia, but actually the one which they were a brand new team and that some people were eager to criticise the performances and particularly manager Gareth Southgate at every opportunity.

It was impressive to see such a young player speak so openly, determined to challenge and reshape his team's history. He wasn't going to shrug his shoulders and let journalists disparage his team's prospects.

But it was not as convincing as his normally assertive performance on the pitch. England played well for half an hour and took the lead when Bellingham burst into the box and finished off an excellent move with a header from Bukayo Saka's cross, but their initial momentum faded and couldn’t be regained. The second-half performance was passive; Serbian substitute Dusan Tadic said England “offered themselves to us”.

All of this could be much easier to cover up if it weren't symptomatic of a long-term trend. Southgate has modified a lot for the higher during the last seven and a half years, but there are still so many situations where his team, having taken control of a game, step by step lose the initiative, retreat and cling on implausibly.

This happened against Croatia within the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, away to Spain within the Nations League later that 12 months, against Italy in the ultimate of the 2020 European Championships and again against Italy last 12 months in a Euro 2024 qualifier in Naples. While England managed to win two of those games, they didn't win the 2 that mattered most when probably the most was at stake.

How far back would you prefer to go? The elimination from the European Championships against Iceland in 2016 and Italy in 2012. That happened within the opening game of the 2010 World Cup against the USA. That was the theme of their 2006 World Cup campaign in Germany, once they won a laborious victory against Paraguay within the opening game. They had the same experience within the round of 16 against Ecuador before losing to Portugal within the quarter-finals here in Gelsenkirchen.

There is a technical problem with the kind of midfielders England have had to date, nevertheless it also appears to be a part of the national team's psyche. England lost quarter-finals from good positions against Portugal at Euro 2004 and Brazil in 2002. The first half was good, the second not so good – as their then manager Sven-Göran Eriksson used to say.

England had three shots on goal in the primary half hour last night after which just two for the remaining of the sport (a long-range shot from Trent Alexander-Arnold and a Harry Kane header that hit the bar). They had 71 per cent of possession in the primary half hour but then just 44 per cent for the remaining of the sport. The drop was not quite as sharp as in last 12 months's qualifier in Naples (when England accomplished 233 passes in the primary half and just 96 within the second), nevertheless it was still worrying.

The balance in midfield was encouraging in the primary half-hour: Bellingham was the dominant figure across the pitch, Alexander-Arnold looked short and long along with his passes and Declan Rice was at all times on the move, at all times doing the easy things well and at all times quick to reply when the ball was lost.

But Alexander-Arnold's influence was waning. So was Saka after a wonderful first half, and Phil Foden, who was more calm throughout. The balance on the left, with Kieran Trippier filling in at left-back while Luke Shaw tries to accumulate his fitness, was off, but the issues went beyond that. Southgate put it right down to a lack of energy in his team – “and that didn't surprise me,” he said, “because a lot of players haven't played 90 minutes recently.”

This is usually how it may look in a team's opening match in a tournament. Getting off the bottom quickly is much less essential than gaining momentum because the tournament progresses.

England have done this well under Southgate, with a working example on the last European Championships once they looked moderately sluggish within the group stages against Croatia, Scotland and the Czech Republic before beating Germany, Ukraine and Denmark en path to that fateful final against Italy.

That's why Bellingham and his teammates were in a position to enjoy their victory here. “If you look at the last tournaments we've played, it's always crucial to get the first win,” said Trippier afterwards. “That gives us a lot of momentum and confidence. It shows the character of the guys. We learned a lot today, but the most important thing is the three points.”

Everyone who spoke afterwards – Southgate, Bellingham, Trippier, Alexander-Arnold, Rice, Kane – mentioned the character and resilience England showed within the second half. When the pressure mounted, they defended well. Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Trippier and Rice all made essential contributions, but perhaps probably the most pleasing performance was that of Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi, who justified his selection.

Rice called it “a game of two halves” but said that “I thought it was comfortable in the end.” “We built this team on clean sheets,” he said. “At the last Euros we won five out of seven games. We have a really solid defense and it's about getting it done on the night. Winning the game tonight was a really good start for us. We just need to use the ball a little bit better in the second half when it starts to get tough.”

That at all times appears to be the large problem for England: keeping control of games moderately than losing initiative and momentum. Rice spoke of it as if that’s something that should be corrected on the training ground over the subsequent few days before they face Denmark in Frankfurt on Thursday.

But sometimes it appears like it's in England's DNA. It's something that Southgate and his players have yet to beat, despite all of the undoubted progress the national team has made lately. At least, having began their season with a win, they will attempt to approach it from a position of strength.