It’s never enough for England

First indication of the direction the week might take came early in last Sunday’s Anfield skirmishes when Tom Cleverley propelled himself into the shins of Philippe Coutinho.

So far, so noble. Then the ugly practice of mime worked its evil, as Iago Aspas delved into the murky recesses of his mind to flourish the reviled imaginary yellow card.

Naturally, the commentary box harrumphed in a rally of tut and countertut as Martin Tyler and Gary Neville reflected, not for the first time, on how ‘European players’ had infected the culture of the English game with their performance art.