Gareth Southgate's three at the back could be shape of things to come for England

Gareth Southgate noted in the build-up to this game that several of his colleagues at a recent Uefa seminar expressed their admiration for the technique and individual quality of England’s squad.

It is nothing new. The global reach of Premier League football has showcased England’s best players for years but the challenge of successive managers stretching back years is how to replicate that domestic strength on the international stage.

Southgate also said prior to this game that he could now begin to focus on delivering long-term success and so it was significant he chose his first permanent match in charge to radically change England’s shape to the 3-4-2-1 system which has been en vogue in this season’s Premier League.

Several top-flight sides use the formation, perhaps this incarnation most closely resembles Tottenham’s current shape under Mauricio Pochettino, but Chelsea have streaked clear at the top of the table in a 3-4-3 mould while Liverpool and Manchester City have also employed something similar at times.

Southgate is yet to reveal whether he views this as the permanent way forward. He is keen to promote greater tactical flexibility so we can at least assume it will remain part of England’s strategy in future matches, especially given the encouraging signs in evidence despite losing 1-0 to Germany here in Dortmund.

International friendlies are very often sterile affairs but the lavish send-off Lukas Podolski received almost downgraded this game to a testimonial, a feeling reinforced by the fitting denouement as the former Arsenal striker fired a thunderous 30-yard strike to sign off his international career in trademark style.

Germany were missing several first-team players and barely got themselves out of second gear yet England named an experimental line-up, too, and given the rigidity that has stifled England’s progress in the past, it ranks as a modest success that they were able to create the better chances and operate with a degree of assurance in possession.

An inability to retain the ball has been among England’s principal weaknesses in recent tournaments — although Roy Hodgson made some progress in this area during his tenure — and one encouraging aspect here was that England actually ensured a greater share of the ball than their opponents at 51 per cent.

That might appear a marginal gain — especially given Germany’s lackadaisical approach to the contest — but it compares well with England’s last two visits here. Last year’s 3-2 win was achieved with just 32% possession while the figure in the 2-1 success of 2008 was 45%.

England are not blessed with great strength in depth defensively but there are several players thriving in wing-back roles and a number of creative midfielders excelling at club level and so it is not difficult to see the logic in Southgate’s assertion 3-4-2-1 suits his existing options.

Dele Alli was England’s stand-out performer with Adam Lallana unfortunate not to score operating alongside him behind lone striker Jamie Vardy. Ross Barkley could easily be accommodated into this system and it will please Southgate that Michael Keane adapted so quickly on his debut despite not playing in a three-man defence at Burnley.

Several personnel changes are expected for Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Lithuania — one is enforced as Gary Cahill is suspended — and it may be that Southgate reverts to a more traditional 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation.

But Lithuania are likely to sit deep and demand England break them down, a challenge that Spurs among others have used a 3-4-2-1 system to overcome on occasion.

It is too early in Southgate’s reign to determine a clear picture but an injection of fresh ideas was exactly what England required last night after the failure of Euro 2016 and the Sam Allardyce debacle.

This felt like a useful start.