ATLANTA — Three Lions at full-time. Harry Kane embraced by teammates and manager. Thousands and thoussands of England supporters, beery and dancing thousands and thousands of miles from home. Squint and wince a little and you can just about persuade yourself that it was designed this way. The first bars of Wonderwall sound out and the lump in your throat comes out to play.
England fight, crawl, force their way on. Somehow, some way. And by some way, we mean: Harry Kane is the best English striker of all time and the best striker in the world right now. England are the Kane team because their captain is magnificent and this is increasingly the World Cup of superstar attackers.
England are also having to be the Harry Kane team because their manager has us all in a muddle. The result may be king in major tournaments, but my goodness it is just as well because England are a mess on most levels. We wrote after the group stage that we couldn’t tell if this team is good or not. Anyone got better answers?
There was a period in the first half, shortly after a fourth England player in 10 minutes had passed the ball straight out of play, when I looked down at my notes. The general gist was this: the defence looked alarmingly fragile and Jordan Pickford seemed spooked by it. The attack was non-existent because the wingers were offering nothing. And the entire team seemed devoid of belief. But apart from that…
