LONDON — England reached the 2018 World Cup semifinals by scoring just three goals from open play.
Scotland were well organised, disciplined and carried a tangible threat when the opportunities arose, cheered on by 2,500 members of the Tartan Army whose noise far exceeded their number.
Perhaps it spoke to the conservative streak within him.
We had moments down the sides, which is where the spaces were against them, but we weren’t able to exploit the spaces.
“In the end, not enough to win but this is a tournament and it is critical when you can’t win, not to lose.
Harry Kane encapsulates the problem at present.
England’s captain looks some way off his best yet it is rare sight indeed to witness the 27-year-old taken off when his team — Tottenham Hotspur or England — need a goal, but Southgate did just that with 16 minutes remaining.
“We have got to look at the whole performance, our use of the ball and review where we could be better,” he said.
This was structurally a similar performance to the one that managed to see off Croatia, but caution in their approach was more understandable in those circumstances.
Early in the second half against Croatia, the England fans began calling for Jack Grealish.
The goal did not come this time.
England worked the ball into crossing positions for the full-backs — Reece James and Luke Shaw were the two changes to the starting lineup due to “their technical ability with the ball,” according to Southgate — only for those players to often turn down the chance to cross.
What I would say is I totally understand anything that comes my way as the manager.
These were always likely to be decisions that would go a long way in determining England’s tournament hopes.