Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
England honoured the shirt, did us proud... and give hope for World Cup
I HAVE to admit, the tension and the sheer agony of the Euros final was almost too difficult to bear... for me and for millions watching at home.
I watched with my son and to see his excitement, his anxiety, his joy and his pain reminded me of how much football means to people – and the responsibility we have as players and managers.
For me, Gareth Southgate and his team shouldered that responsibility with dignity and pride.
They honoured the shirt of England... they did us all proud. And that is all we can ask of them. OK, maybe they were capable of better football in the final. But they could not have given more effort, shown more desire or displayed more belief.
It was so difficult to watch as the game ebbed away from them and penalties loomed. Yet there is much to take from the tournament and I think, as England fans, we can all have real hope for next year’s World Cup.
England have now reached the semi-final and the final of the last two major tournaments. No other nation in the world can say that. Not France, not Brazil, not Belgium, not Argentina.
And we can get better. There is no doubt about that.
Looking at the final against Italy, and the World Cup semi-final against Croatia, the game slipped away a little, as they became too defence-minded.
It is easy for that to happen – you have a lead and it is natural to want to hold on to it, so the wing-backs get deeper, the midfield drops off, the front line becomes isolated. This is a frighteningly young England side, though, and they will become more experienced in handling those situations.
The key is to maintain a threat, even if you are defending deep – and we have the personnel to do that. Raheem Sterling was in the form of his life, Harry Kane was outstanding in the knockout and all the other forwards showed up at different times during the tournament.
The quality is there, so it is a question of how to utilise it. In the first 20 minutes of the game,
England used their wing-backs brilliantly and also got one of the three centre-halves moving forward, as Kyle Walker showed with his role in the goal.
I feel that could have continued. I don’t think Italy’s full-backs were all that great and we exposed them early on, but then allowed them an easy ride where they did not have to look over their shoulders or play on the turn. So, more courage to expose that would have been good. Again, though, there is no criticism, just an understanding that a young team can – and will – get better.
I think we lost a little control in the midfield after the first half hour, where Marco Verratti and Jorginho dominated possession. But by next winter when the World Cup comes around, I believe we may have someone to solve that problem. Jude Bellingham only played a cameo in the Euros, but he has everything you want in a modern midfielder and I think, like the Italians, he is capable of playing passes, and retaining possession. That is where England were perhaps lacking – in getting on the ball and keeping it.
His pass-completion record for England is insane, almost 95 per cent, and he excels in terms of distance covered and interceptions, too. I think he can develop to become a top-class international and that is exciting when you think of this squad.
The same can be said of Jadon Sancho and Phil Foden, too, and Mason Mount and even Jack Grealish.
Sancho’s pace and his ability to put defenders on the back foot – and his stats with Dortmund in assists and creating chances, say he can offer a dimension England lacked in the final. If he does the same with Manchester United as he has done in Germany, then he will be an automatic choice for England. And, with Bellingham, it could be the dimension to take England that final step further.
This young England team can – and will – get better