By the time we reached the death throes of this grim excuse for international sport, a good chunk of the England support had headed off into Barcelona. Cheap beer trumps cheap football every time.

That they stayed so long was admirable. This was a dreadful late afternoon of activity against a team ranked 173 in the world. England won and didn’t pick up any injuries. They remain top of their free pass of a World Cup qualifying group. That’s the very best we can say for it. On to the next one, a friendly against Senegal at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

At least there will be a crowd at that one. Here – with Andorra having relocated two and half hours from home while their renovated stadium awaits UEFA clearance – there was hardly one at all. England fans at both ends with the top tier closed. Along one side a smattering of ‘home’ supporters.

But then we remembered that Thomas Tuchel’s squad has two Real Madrid players in it. Then we remembered that Spain had just thrilled their nation by beating France 5-4 on TV on Thursday. And then – most importantly of all – the game started and England reminded us just how bad they can be when the mood takes them.

Why is it that England teams of any generation always seem to have a day like this in them?

England beat Andorra 1-0 in Barcelona on Saturday in a forgettable World Cup qualifier

Three Lions captain Harry Kane scored the only goal of a dismal game at RCDE Stadium

Thomas Tuchel (right) did not look impressed with what he saw from the England dugout

The national team’s last 20 years have these performances dotted among them and just when they manage to persuade us that they are better than all that these days, England go all Steve McClaren on us all over again.

So England won it and will move on. They were booed off after a goalless first half and then took the lead through Harry Kane in the 49th minute. We wondered at that stage whether an avalanche of goals would follow, whether there would be some kind of reawakening from those in white.

But none of that came and so we meandered through to a conclusion and England were booed off again at the end.

As for Tuchel himself, he will feel hollowed out by this. The England coach knows he only has limited time and limited games between now and next summer’s World Cup in America. He had asked his players here for a performance of conviction. ‘We must win and win well,’ he said. Only one of those requirements was met and it came by the narrowest margin possible.

Tuchel has overseen three games now and all have been won without a goal being conceded. That’s the positive way to look at it. The more prosaic truth is that England’s football has yet to find itself under their new coach. It’s been modest at best. Indeed this was a showing that would have been right at home in the middle of last summer’s European Championship and that is not a compliment.

Tuchel must be afforded some patience even if he hasn’t got much time. Games like this – on a hot day at the end of a long season – are not easy. Andorra defended with bodies and no ambition and with some organisation and none of that ever leads to thrills and spills.

But goodness me, England were slow and predictable. Their football carried little by way of imagination and intelligence. There was no evidence of attacking relationships being formed. No telepathy. Nothing on which a future can seemingly be built.

In terms of Tuchel’s selection, it spoke to strength but also to weakness. England do have some attacking players that other nations would covet. But this team also had Jordan Henderson as its midfield pivot, a central midfielder, Curtis Jones, at right back and a right back, Reece James, at left back. Maybe we should not be that surprised at what we got.

England’s fans in Barcelona also looked disappointed and some booed at the final whistle

Despite around 7,000 England fans travelling to the match, there were plenty of empty seats

England scorer Kane, pictured applauding the crowd at full-time, played the whole 90 minutes

England’s 1-0 victory means that they have nine points from three World Cup qualifiers so far

As we knew they would, England had all the first half play – 87 per cent of the possession to be precise – but largely found blind alleys.

Andorra goalkeeper Iker Alvarez – who plays for Villarreal’s B team – saved capably but also quite comfortably from Jude Bellingham and Noni Madueke – both from distance – in the first 15 minutes while Jones and Kane contrived to make a mess of things at the far post five minutes later after James had set Madueke free down the left with the pass of the opening period.

The England support had been quite enthusiastic early on. But as England’s football faded to grey, so did they. And by the time half time arrived all we could hear was the shrill of the small Andorran band on the far side and abusive chants about the English prime minister from the travelling supporters.

The half ended with a Bellingham flick header being comfortably held by Alvarez but England were marginally more progressive after the break and managed to take the lead four minutes in.

The pass from Jones through the Andorran back line to free Kane was excellent but so was the save from Alvarez as he advanced to meet the England captain. Madueke was able to retrieve the ball over on the far side and when he drove it low across goal, Kane stretched to divert it high in to the roof of the goal from six yards.

That brought some relief to England but didn’t prompt a particular uptick in their play. Kane tried a chip and Morgan Rogers beat a man only to slip as he shot.

Andorra ended the game having worried England just once, Guillaume Lopez skipping past Dan Burn to have a shot blocked by Ezri Konsa with 15 minutes left. There was to be no miracle at Espanyol for the minnows. Equally, there was precious little to cheer England either.