I think people are over thinking it a bit - it's tournament football and not really a great standard either. When you get two evenly matched teams, it's always going to require a bit of luck at times. The Champions League knockout games are often erratic and that's over two legs.
Reports today that Southgate is considering quitting - I really hope he does. He's done well considering he's a fairly average manager (at best). There was a lot of discontent over the past year or so; that will come back to the fore when qualifying and the nations league start.
I think he'll go. England had been on a bit of a decline in the (admittedly rubbish) nations league. But losing 4-0 to Hungary in any game is inexcusable. The teams we faced in the world cup:
- Iran. Always expecting to beat them.
- USA. Dull as dishwater game.
- Wales. Team in transition. Bale and Ramsey, who have carried Wales in the past, are now past it. Both were utterly rubbish. Good performance from England, but yeah, Wales are poor at the moment.
- Senegal. Caused us a few issues but ultimately we were the better team. You always get a handful of African teams get through the group stages, but they tend to struggle against more organised teams (Morocco being the exception this year).
- France. Toughest game. Played reasonably well to be fair and unlucky that the normally reliable Kane forgot he was playing football and not rugby. And talking of Kane, he was back to his tricks of receiving the ball at left back which doesn't help anyone.
I think it needs a new face with some fresh ideas. I can't stand watching Maguire and Stones hold on to the ball for 5+ seconds each only to pass the ball back to each other.
Bellingham is quality for the team as well as individually. I think he'll be a future England captain. When Kane missed the penalty, he made a conscious effort to sprint over to him to try and gee him back up. And towards the end of the game he was talking to other players. Proper leader on the pitch. Kane as captain just doesn't do it for me. The voice you hear the most when he's playing is Henderson who also will increase the intensity if required.