But after a soul-destroying run of winless in six games; including a mind-boggling 4-0 home defeat by Hungary; getting relegated form the Nations League; and amazingly before the Germany match not even a single goal from open play; the knives are unsurprisingly now out for manager Gareth Southgate.
So where has it all gone wrong? How did a great team with such smooth play suddenly come crashing down? Well I think the players got to take a good hard look at themselves and see if they are indeed producing the form they should be doing; as befits world-class stars playing in the English Premier League. Or have they gotten ahead of themselves (again) and start believing in the hype too much; just like previous failed editions?
I think one problem also is that Southgate is strangely picking players seemingly based on reputation and not form. How else can Harry Maguire (just about universally known as the worst defender in the world) still able to start for England? How about Luke Shaw when he is not starting for his club? Or Kyle Walker when he is not exactly starting for Man City too? These have caused the mistakes that have hampered England's game & rhythm recently.
Let's face it: there are also players who haven't been quite able to live up to their form: such as Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold; who from being hailed as the best right-back the world may now not even make it on the plane to Qatar; while players like James Maddison & Jack Grealish have not exactly set the world alight as well. It all makes for what should be a very interesting World Cup for the Three Lions.
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