England Out With A Whimper.

Don't get me wrong, all in all it was a good World Cup for England. No one expected England to do as well as they did, and we should be happy. However, the last two games of the tournament left a bitter taste in the mouth. Yes England took on Belgium with 24 hours less preparation time than their opponents, but did that really make a difference?

The cracks, or maybe tiredness, which shone through in the defeat to Croatia were evident here again. Despite starting brightly England went behind quickly. Danny Rose, a player making a rare start was sluggish when tracking back. Failure to pick up Meunier gave Pickford no chance and Belgium the lead.

From then on it was all Belgium, although England were forced into many changes. It was a bit like the Manchester City of Guardiola's first season with the first team being good, with back up players not being able to come in and take the strain.

In fact the Three Lions were lucky not to be three goals down in the first fifteen minutes. Errors from Belgium in the final third and a Pickford boot being the reason the score stayed close. Despite this Southgate's men still played out from the back even when facing pressure from the Belgium front line.

Again criticism would be on Raheem Sterling but Harry Kane spent most of his time wide, and only had one shot on target in the last four games. By the way, that one shot on target, a penalty against Colombia.

By the time the referee blew for halftime England had six shots, with half being on target. This compared to Belgium's two shots on target from their seven. England were also ahead in the possession stakes with the ball 56% of the time.

Rashford and Lingard were both on at half time with Dele Alli coming on with minutes to go. Between those two sets of substitutions Belgium had doubled the lead, and there really was no comeback in sight.   

So it was a poor two games and a World Cup of contrasting emotions. Harry Kane wins the Golden boot, but fails to get a goal in any of the latter fixtures and only one shot on target in the knockout stage!

England had their best run in a World Cup and matched the 1990 side, yet the way it happened was underwhelming in many respects. That said, as I have written before, I like to think of it as a valuable learning experience for the younger lads.

Imagine the core of this side in two and four years time. Having played this style and comfortable with this system I think the future could be bright for this nation. It's just whether we have the stomach for the bumps ahead in the road.