Disappointing in the end. But a deserved win for Italy, the team that seemed to want it more.
Like Southgate as a person & think he’s done a great job at building a fantastic team spirit throughout the England camp. However, his in-game management decisions are extremely questionable:
- Shutting shop after scoring and just allowing Italy to have the ball for what seemed like the whole game. We were never going to be able to park the bus for 88 mins and not concede in an international tournament final.
- Bringing on Henderson & Saka when we needed game winners, instead, bringing them (rashford/Sancho) on with 3 seconds to go.
- Putting Sancho/Saka as the 4th/5th penalty takers. Nothing against Saka & I don’t blame him, but that’s an incredible amount of pressure that Southgate put on a 19 year old.
If England want to be winning tournaments, they need to show a bit less respect to their opponents & go for the jugular. You wouldn’t catch a prime Barcelona, or Brazil parking the bus after 2 mins.
As many people mentioned, doesn’t hurt anywhere near as much as Utd in a CL final.