In a really crap summer, England gave us so much more than we could have asked for. Yes, the draw opened up for us. And yes, Southgate is still not great at game management/talent maximisation. But...
...for the first time in decades, England were a proper team. Cohesion. Discipline. Tactical flexibility. Round pegs, round holes. And they are mostly young players, and brilliant players, and they will grow.
This, the World Cup and the last few Champions Leagues, shows that it's an absolutely brilliant time to be an England fan, or English fan. Southgate and his team deserve enormous credit for that.
And yes, I'm disappointed Sancho, Saka and Rashford missed. I'm also disappointed that Sancho didn't get more game time, something that will seem really really odd when it becomes clearer what a megastar he is (same with Foden).
But I don't want to blame them for missing those penalties. I want to get back to blaming them for playing for **** teams that we beat in the Premier League.
In short, international football is a lottery. Even if we remain a damn sight better than under Sven/Keegan/Capello/McLaren/Hodgson, it may be another 55 years before another final. But I'm glad we got this, even if the ending was so very bitter.
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