England have been revitalised since Fabio Capello took charge but the ease with which European Champions Spain brushed his team aside on Wednesday night must give the Italian coach cause for concern.
Shorn of injured midfielders Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole and striker Wayne Rooney in the 2-0 friendly defeat, England lacked creativity and had little cutting edge up front.
Spain's creative midfield pair of Xavi and Andres Iniesta took a while to get going but once they did England struggled to cope with their slick passing and Xabi Alonso and Marcos Senna provided a solid central platform.
In David Villa and Fernando Torres, Spain have two of the most dangerous strikers around and the constant threat they posed made the laboured efforts of England's forwards look all the more ineffective.
Shaun Wright-Phillips provided the occasional spark with a couple of decent runs and one long-range shot but otherwise Spain found it all too easy to close the English out.
"We have a lot to learn from the way the Spanish play," Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, who came on at half-time to replace Gareth Barry, told reporters.
"They definitely played fabulously and they are the best team in the world."
Capello said he was disappointed with the mistake that led to Villa's opening goal, a misplaced pass by Phil Jagielka, and the Italian knows such errors will have to be ironed out.
"These things happen sometimes in matches and you don't concede a goal," he said.
"With Spain it's different," he added. "They have the virtue of being able to exploit any opening."
Good run
Alonso, who plays his club football in the Premier League, said the Spain players were pleased and proud to earn such words of praise from their England opponents.
"It's obvious that we are on a good run of form and the experience of winning the European Championships has given us a lot of confidence," the Liverpool midfielder told reporters.
"But the important thing for all of us is not to think of our ranking or whether the team is better or worse than any other," he said. "We just want to concentrate on what we are doing and keep improving."
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said before the clash in Seville that Spain and England were the two best teams in Europe but on the evidence of Wednesday's match only one team has a realistic chance of lifting the World Cup next year.