Wayne Rooney claimed England had proved the doubters wrong, boss Roy Hodgson praised his side’s character, while the Three Lions have just finished a season unbeaten for the first time in 24 years. And with outstanding statistics in qualifying they will arrive in France for next year’s European Championships as one of the continent’s form teams.

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Surely Englishmen should be brimming with confidence and talking up their chances of winning the whole thing. Unfortunately not.

A year on from a dismal World Cup performance and year out from the next chance to make an impact at a major tournament, there are still more questions than answers with this team.

Sunday’s display in winning 3-2 in Slovenia was as flawed as it was thrilling and it was England’s deficiencies which stood out more than the bravery Hodgson commended.

First and foremost, there is no way a team that defends as poorly as England can have any certainty of going far in a tournament.

The abject attempt at an offside trap which allowed lumbering 36-year-old Milivoje Novakovic to break clear – as if in slow motion – for Slovenia’s opener was just the latest in a catalogue of rearguard calamities. England’s defending remains absolutely terrifying.

It was the chief problem in Brazil last summer and Hodgson seems no closer to instilling the obduracy which historically has been one of the country’s strengths.

Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill looked like strangers and they virtually are. Sunday represented the first time they had played two consecutive games together at the heart of the defence.

Novakovic’s goal highlighted a lack of understanding between the pair and more pointedly a breakdown in communication.

Then we come to Phil Jones, whose botched throw-in triggered the move for that wretched opening goal. But Hodgson really does the Manchester United defender few favours.

Jones produced a comedy sketch performance as a ‘midfield destroyer’ in a friendly draw with Italy in March, while only injury curtailed a similarly hopeless display at right full-back.

It seems only Hodgson has failed to realise that Jones is a centre half, and that is all. Based on his England displays of late he is lucky to be in the squad and certainly should not be starting. While he floundered on the right, left-back Kieran Gibbs was beaten all too easily in the air for Slovenia’s second goal. 

After last summer’s debacle, a clear plan for resolving his side’s problems at the back should have been at the top of Hodgson’s agenda.

Instead, he has chopped and changed personnel and consequently the Slovenians made England look just as vulnerable as they did in South America.

It was the major negative on a day where there were multiple positives for the visitors, notably Jack Wilshere, Adam Lallana and Raheem Sterling, while only Rooney’s wayward finishing stopped it being a far more routine win against modest opposition.

Hodgson seems to have settled on his 4-3-3, occasionally 4-2-3-1, formation but as for the men to fill the slots, it seems we are all still guessing, including the manager.

Weak qualifying rivals makes their progress hard to gauge, but you suspect that for all their positive results, Hodgson has much work to do in the 12 months ahead.