The inquest was under way at San Siro and Gareth Southgate knew the questions would be direct. It had been one of those bad England nights when the team looked static, unable to build with the ball, the connections elusive.
The 1-0 Nations League defeat by Italy on Friday was deserved, largely inevitable, and it followed a quartet of vague or non-performances in the competition in June, which had brought two defeats and two draws – a substantial body of evidence for the prosecution.
