Even when everything else was going well for Gareth Southgate, there was a criticism that could be levelled at him. A meticulous planner could set up a side to start well, but they lost their way. Southgate could not make game-changing substitutions. Croatia and Italy could concede first to England but come back and win. Southgate lacked the instinctive brilliance to alter a match that was getting away from him.
As a reign seemed to be losing its way, as six years of progress seemed to bring drift, dullness and disappointment, Southgate did something new. Not pick Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has cemented the prized role of England’s fourth-choice right-back. But still something very different. He conjured a comeback.
