Gareth Southgate has earned one more shot at England glory

As England left their training base today, they will no doubt have been dreaming of what could have been after the heartbreaking defeat to France in the World Cup quarter-final at the Al Bayt Stadium last night.

There will be talk for a long time about the penalty that could have been, the one that was missed and the decision making of the referees. But England’s performance in Qatar breathed new life into Gareth Southgate’s future as national coach.

Just a month ago, dissidents suggested it should be the last hurray for Southgate, after a horrendous run before the team headed to Qatar. England went six games without a win before dismantling Iran in their World Cup opener.

Even that beating from Iran did not touch the soul of those very people who were against the England manager. As some have said, he is to be expected to run rampant over such a lowly nation.

Then, when the United States put a lot of pressure on England, the negative voices got a little louder.

On that occasion it was not the lack of victory, the manner of the performance caused consternation. Everything seemed slow, too safe, and there was a distinct lack of insight. The team’s selection was criticized and doubts cast on qualification prospects.

Although only a four goal thrashing of Wales in the last group game would see the Three Lions go home.

However, the game against the Welsh flipped the script as Southgate opted for a more attacking line-up. England strolled past Wales, which was seen as a mere shadow of its usual hard-working side and it was Robert Page’s side that went home, not Southgate’s.

The conversation turned against Senegal

The way the Three Lions put Senegal on the sword in the round of 16 was terrifyingly good. Apart from a chance before England took the lead, the result was never in doubt.

The Southgate side were composed on the ball, well organized and focused on the game plan with a fairly offensive starting line-up.

They would lure their opponents in and punch them to get ahead, and then there was only one team in the game. Southgate clearly saw that as the way forward, and was in complete opposition to what many had seen in England. Who had been labeled as slow, predictable and far from the sum of their parts.

Against France, the line-up remained the same, however the only ripple in the game plan was the need to remove the threat from one of the world’s deadliest strikers, Kylian Mbappe.

Before kick-off, the striker had scored five France goals and was the mainstay of almost everything offensively.

Southgate got the tactics right

Kyle Walker, had the experience to deal with him and as the game progressed little was said about Mbappe and more about England’s attacking prowess.

It showed Southgate got it right, one of the world’s leading lights didn’t shine at all. They even took advantage of the spaces he left behind, and this despite the fact that Walker could not help Bukayo Saka in an offensive sense.

Saka was fantastic carving his own way through the France defence, who resorted to aggression and fouling to stop him.

England were progressive in their play, and in the second half in particular they looked the team most likely to win.

They had real dynamism, with the energy of Jude Bellingham and Jordan Henderson and Declan Rice directing anything ahead of the back four.