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?

Proud England Out Of World Cup - Reflection On The Tournament

There was a different feeling with this World Cup as England bowed out. I must admit, once it was known we'd be playing in white, I thought we'd struggle. Seriously though, this England side had restored hope to a Nation even before a ball was kicked against Croatia.

Youth was the key for this England side, with only two players from yesterdays starting eleven born before the 1990 World Cup. Significant because that was the last time England made the Semi Finals of the World Cup. Jordan Henderson becomes a third player as he was born a day after England held the Netherlands to a 0-0 draw in the second Group game of Italia '90.

Southgate Proud As England Bow Out Of Russia

Of course, there is still the third place game to come. A meeting between group stage rivals, Belgium to see if this England side can still be the most successful England side on foreign soil. In 1990 England reached the World Cup Semi Final before being defeated by West Germany. The following game was also a loss, with England finishing fourth behind the hosts in Italia '90.

Analysis of the tournament as a whole for England will follow tomorrow. For now though I want to focus on last nights defeat to Croatia. Despite the defeat I finished watching the game with positive thoughts. Not so much that we had blown a golden chance but more that we had given some young players potentially valuable experience.

Three Lions Roar Into The Semi Finals

I must admit that I was working at the time of the game. Following via score updates never gives quite the same emotion as watching the ebb and flow of a match. Their attempts on our goal, and our efforts missed are not lived through with the rather boring display of 'ten minutes gone, 0-0'.

Belgium Top Group As England Settle For Second

Before I begin I just want to say that I am not one of these people who will get on the back of Gareth Southgate because he made wholesale changes. In the end his job is to give the side the best opportunity in this tournament to progress, and I think he did that.

Resting the likes of Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and others was always going to be a gamble. Yes we may lose the game, but the journey is still very much on. What I would have criticized the English manager for, however, would have been to then bring on Harry Kane and others to try to salvage the points. If your goal was to rest key players, and therefore reduce their risk of injury, then I am not sure why you would then bring them on in the final twenty minutes to chase a game.