England now a far more complete side than in the World Cup

Englishman James Nichols is head coach of Cascadia

While the World Cup ground to halt on the 15th of July, there was a sense of optimism surrounding English football. For years the Premier League has been described as ‘the best league in the world’, however the national team have failed to follow in this path since its inception.

A fresh, young, vibrant team took centre stage as the nation was gripped by the most successful tournament showing from an English team in over 20 years. The key for England was to build upon this and harness the positive feeling towards the team which has been lacking since Paul Gascoigne was a stud length away from grabbing a winner in Euro ’96.

Step forward the UEFA Nations League.

In a group that most described at best as ‘difficult’, England conquered and progressed through to the semi-final. A tournament which people have struggled to understand the format of, England shrugged off any uncertainty. They started sluggishly, in terms of results, against a good Spanish side at Wembley. This was followed up by a draw away from home against their world cup rivals Croatia. In both of these games, the statistics will tell you how much closer to these teams England were than their last performances against the same opposition.

Realistically needing two wins from the last two games, England travelled to Seville. In what is renowned as the birthplace of Flamenco, England lead Spain on a merry dance. Three early goals from this young side propelled England to an unassailable lead, despite the attempts of the evergreen Sergio Ramos, who scored deep in to added on time to leave England fans on the edge of their seats once more.

The positive for England was one of the few men who suffered at the hands of the tabloid press during the world cup, Raheem Sterling, continued with his rich vein of form for club being the tormentor in chief. England had changed to deal with the Spanish threats in Seville. Playing on the counter attack, playing to their strengths. Understanding that if they went toe to toe with Spain they could well be making an early exit from the Nations League.

Over a month elapsed between the Spanish game and the return of Croatia to Wembley, a fixture that brings about memories of Steve McLaren, sheltering under an umbrella as his team stuttered and eventually failed to get out of their qualification group. Forthwith christened ‘The wally with the brolly’, Southgate will have been keen to avoid ‘The scapegoat in the waistcoat’. His team were underdogs for the world cup and all of a sudden were favourites to qualify with Wembley as their home venue.

They started like a house on fire, creating chance after chance. Fine, flowing football brought the London Borough of Brent to its feet but England could not capitalise. Disaster struck however in the second half, as a deflected Andre Kramaric shot left England facing relegation. For all their flowing football England resorted to type as they began chasing the game. They became more direct and once more, Southgate’s attention to detail on set pieces worked. First, a long throw, eventually bundled over the line by Jesse Lingard left England requiring a goal. Who else could it be but the top scorer from the World Cup, Harry Kane. Like all good goal scorers, when it seemed like it wasn’t to be his day, he stole the back page headlines and propelled his nation in to the semi-finals.

Ben Chilwell has slotted into the international arena smoothly and effortlessly writes James Nichols
Photo: Andy Wilkins/Prost International

England look a far more complete side than in the World Cup.

They are dynamic and young. New faces have strengthened the group from the world cup. Chilwell and Gomez slotted in effortlessly. Sancho lived up to his performances in the Bundesliga and his decision to chase first team football. The team have multiple styles of football, blistering counter attacks, patient in possession or can go back to front quickly if the game demands it.

This England team restored pride in the World Cup, now they are looking at performing consistently against the better teams in the world and hopefully competing for major honours once again.