Nations League: Are England shaping up as Euro 2020 contenders?
- Published
- comments
Jordan Pickford scored and saved a penalty in the shootout win over Switzerland
England's season drew to a close with disappointment in the inaugural Uefa Nations League finals as Gareth Southgate's side reached the midway point between last summer's feel-good run to the World Cup semi-final and Euro 2020.
The feats of last year's Russian summer came as a pleasant surprise before the pain of defeat by Croatia in Moscow - but the loss to the Netherlands in Guimaraes was a setback and raised key questions about the team's level of development.
England's win on penalties against Switzerland in the third place play-off at least ensured a positive ending but their main objective was not achieved.
So what sort of shape are England in 12 months on from Moscow and 12 months out from a Euros showpiece where both semi-finals and the final will be staged on home soil at Wembley?
England offer reasons for hope
If England had won this new European trophy it would have been paraded as a major success, so the fact they did not means the cold judgement is that they have failed.
In their defence, it may simply have been two games too far at the end of an exhausting season, but it was a failure nonetheless.
England's year, however, must be placed in context and there is no question progress has been made by Southgate and his players.
They have proved that, when they get it right, they can pull off a landmark result, as they did when they recorded their first away win against Spain for 31 years in Seville in October.
England also showed they can react to pressure when they mounted a superb late comeback to beat their World Cup semi-final conquerors Croatia at Wembley in November to secure their place in these Portugal finals.
Southgate oversees a side with an exciting nucleus of young players who will serve England well at next summer's Euros and beyond in the shape of Raheem Sterling, a world-class striker in Harry Kane along with Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, Liverpool duo Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez as well as Borussia Dortmund teenager Jadon Sancho.
Alexander-Arnold and Gomez, while not seriously tested against Switzerland, excelled and are now putting pressure on the more established names like Kyle Walker and those currently in central defence.
West Ham's Declan Rice has been integrated while Tottenham's Harry Winks, Leicester City's James Maddison and the precocious Manchester City 19-year-old Phil Foden will all press their claims further next season.
England named a starting XI aged 24 years and 156 days against the Netherlands, the 10th time in the last 23 games their line-up average age has been aged under 25 - this happened in just 10 of the previous 606 matches.
Chelsea pair Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi will be in the frame once they overcome serious Achilles tendon injuries while Jack Grealish's return to the Premier League with Aston Villa will come under scrutiny.
And there are others trying to push in from the margins, such as Southampton's James Ward-Prowse and Crystal Palace full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
England's national football team has also re-engaged with their supporters after an era when regular failures at the big showpieces prior to the 2018 World Cup saw the public fall out of love with the team. This is in stark contrast to the inability to get out of the group stage in Brazil in 2014 and the gross embarrassment of their performance and exit against Iceland at the last 16 stage of Euro 2016, which prompted manager Roy Hodgson's instant resignation.
And in Southgate, who took over after Sam Allardyce's one-match tenure, they have a dignified manager who oozes class as a personality and who - for now at least - has credit in the bank and the public on his side following England's advance to the last four in Russia.
The platform, on many levels, has been established. England must now show they can build on it.
Serious questions for England to answer
England are still surrounded by the groundswell of goodwill they built up in Russia and which they bolstered by reaching these finals and scoring 10 goals in their opening Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro.
So far so good - until the loss to the Netherlands exposed familiar faultlines that have still not been addressed.
For all the praise they have had, much of it fully deserved, the bottom line is that England have reached two semi-finals in the past 12 months and lost both.
They must prove they are not destined to always be bridesmaids. It is a reputation that is easily earned but hard to lose.
In the 3-1 defeat by the Netherlands, England faced 29 shots - the most they've faced in an international match since June 2013
And in both losing causes there was an ominous pattern that suggests this England team still has a long way to go to justify the great expectations that will accompany them into Euro 2020.
England led both semi-finals for a long spell and yet ended up losing control of the game and ending well beaten by sides with greater assuredness in possession and game management.
As they leave here for a summer break, they must find a way to show they can get over the line when it matters. They must show they can dig out the big result against the big teams at the sharp end of tournaments.
Southgate must also look at a defence that can seem desperately vulnerable against opposition of higher quality, as proved again in a total fiasco against the Dutch.
John Stones had a nightmare, playing a part in two Netherlands goals, while Harry Maguire and Kyle Walker also made awful errors that were fortunate to go unpunished.
In other words, none of that trio flew out of Portugal on Sunday night with reputations enhanced or places in the England side nailed down.
Gomez must be a contender for a starting place if he can stay fit at Liverpool because the inconsistency at the back must be eradicated or England will be constantly undermined.
Dele Alli's game has gone backwards at an alarming rate, as he proved with a dismal display for Tottenham in the Champions League final against Liverpool and his lack of impact in Portugal, where he was on the periphery.
England still lack the world-class number 10 that can make the difference, who can dictate the big games and Alli is another player who was once a certain starter who must now prove himself again.
How England would love a Frenkie de Jong who, at 22, can manipulate games at the highest level - as he proved for Ajax in this season's Champions League before his move to Barcelona - and was head and shoulders above everyone else in his side's semi-final against England.
Winks may yet be England's closest, although he was missing here, while there are high hopes for Rice and Maddison but they have not got the quality or experience of the outstanding De Jong.
England will have been pleased to salvage the consolation of victory here, even on penalties, but there is still much work to be done and to believe otherwise is delusion.
Southgate will know this and he will now be digesting the lessons of another tournament where his side just fell short.
The last year has seen progress - but making the final leap will be the hardest task of all.