Players are tired - both physically and mentally. The best players have been defenders, even 41-year-old Pepe was able to leave his mark. That tells me that it's a far from vintage tournament.
Those are their last three opponents. If you had to pick three teams at a major tournament to give you a ticket to the semi-finals, you wouldn't believe your luck if you landed all of those.
But Shaw is one of the manager's men. Even though he wasn't match fit or, in any way, fit, he turned to Shaw.He's had this luck at other tournaments too. It's incredible the run of good fortune he's had.Big and brave calls have to be made. Harry Kane is badly out of form. He has posed hardly any threat across five games now.Is Southgate going to allow a Cristiano Ronaldo situation to develop?Southgate has plenty of other options up front.
The buck does stop with Southgate, however. He'll feel his approach has been vindicated by England's progress. It hasn't, he's just been lucky.It tells us that international football - in Europe, anyway - is not in a great place. France, because of the players and experience they have, are the best bet to win outright, but this is a tournament that raises serious questions about Mbappe.But I'm not sure if he'll ever be the player he promised to be.
England Football Team Gareth Southgate Eamon Dunphy
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