wattWhat is going on here? Ridiculously, England reached yet another semi-final, their third in four tournaments under Southgate. Feeling okay? kind of. A little bit. Maybe not. It depends on which part of this strange, grueling, unexpectedly joyous evening in Düsseldorf’s Green Edge you choose to focus on.
We’ll have time, a lot of time, to delve into the pain and ambiguity and feeling of the team spending 120 minutes trying to put on a jumper, realizing it’s from back to front, then realizing it doesn’t have any arms, and then realizing It’s actually an ironing board cover. First the good parts.
One of them is Jordan Pickford. Pickford was Southgate’s first real leap of faith in England (does the career trajectory of those managers who immediately cut Joe Hart out of the team need to be studied?). Pickford was outstanding. He is England’s most reliable player in this tournament. Here he had another great moment, saving Manuel Akanji’s penalty in the shootout that essentially decided the game.
Pickford was stunned and running around with a pole. He looks like a guy who knows how to win and he’s going to put this off until he does. Has there been a more successful England goalkeeper since Gordon Banks? the answer is negative.
But honestly, this is Bukayo Saka’s game. This was Saka’s game because he did what he did to keep England in the game because he looked focused, ready and willing while everyone else seemed still learning the latest dance moves. His late goal helped England avoid relegation after trailing 1-0 and being outplayed in every aspect by a compact and intelligent Swiss side.
Saka is a player you love to see, who smiles and reminds you that – between running, working and covering, because he is the hardest working of modern footballers – it is still essentially about the game, the joy, Fun and invention. He deserves it too, as football has been difficult for Saka.
He has essentially been bombarded with footballs, if not bumped by Mikel Arteta, then close to the ground and is now a veteran of three grueling international appearances. He may look tired. He takes a lot of hits and falls a lot because he’s not very physical, but he still keeps making contact. Saka got his catharsis here, too, scoring the third spot-kick in England’s winning penalty shootout, and you’ll feel your heart flutter as you watch him step up and take it, alone. A man does it again in an empty space.
All the players involved in that horrific, dark Wembley penalty shootout final three years ago suffered. Saka needs time and support. It’s so cruel, so harsh, so public, so vicious, so sinister in conjuring stupid racist slurs from toxic corners of the internet. Saka now has this, another memory.
Beyond that, it was Saka’s game, as the tone of almost every other part of England’s night was one of discomfort and unease. For example, look at their performance on the pitch at the end of the 90 minutes, with the score 1-1. Southgate has surprisingly had a very sexy group of players on the pitch so far.
There are worse ways to go out. On the other hand, this is what happens when you lose control. After all the talk about structure, the England team at the time was basically just a bunch of cool guys making stuff up.
Eds Rice Saka Bellingham Foden-Palmer is a delicious but very silly midfielder. England’s performance in these 45 minutes was dull but efficient. Then they were tame. Then they were terrible. And then all of a sudden, this was the jazz journey, and Southgate later decided that not just something was going to change, but everything was going to change. Reasonable replacement at the appropriate time? Instead, England threw everything in the air and improvised, freestyle creating a dessert using everything from the ice cream aisle.
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Then again, this is just another really weird game. The start of the race in Dusseldorf was breezy, the air was fresh, the clouds were flying, and the evening sunshine was thin. There was some controversy before the game after predictions that Kieran Trippier and Saka would play “inverted” came true. This is a bit strange. Let’s pursue balance. But again, don’t strive for balance.
England looked more compact. But there is also something illusory about it. The white shirts were arranged in an unusual pattern, as if someone had moved the furniture around so many times that the sofa was now on the landing and the TV was in the middle of the floor. The first half was not good. That’s not bad. It just happened. At least England succeeded in suppressing the priests. The most neutral country ever has been super neutralized. What should we do now?
Enter, the familiar slow collapse. As always, Switzerland scored. England survived this European Championship only because of one moment. Saka is their best player, and this is certainly the area where the hairiest bald man is, but he’s at least been at the back, always working on the same line, looking for an angle, a passage.
Maybe eventually he just got tired of passing the ball into the open space. England conceded the ball and went home. This time, Saka decided to become a killer. It’s a lovely, pure moment among this confused and fuzzy team. Finally, the space is there and the shot is a lovely daisy skimmer, a sweet connection from the top of the toe that starts outside the post and curls inside the post.
There was a grunt of surprise from England supporters at the end of the game, astonishment that such a thing was possible. Saka looked relieved at first as he temporarily took the burden off all his players. So England head to Dortmund for another semi-final, fueled by chaos, luck and muscle memory of how to win. There will be bewilderment, relief, bewilderment, and so many—so, so many—opinions about why and how. But a good thing happened here too. Saka has his game.
