Sometimes you have to just hold your hands up. The Lionesses are a very good team but, on the day, they were just not quite good enough and Spain deserved to win.
When England and the Football Association look back on this World Cup, they will reflect on a near-miss, a good experience and hopefully also an important learning curve for everyone.
The women's game in this country has come so far but we can't stop and relax. To give ourselves the best chance of getting over the line and winning the World Cup in four years, we need to push on, make some changes and be better in everything we do.
If we want to be the best in the world, the game needs more investment.
We need investment which leads to more opportunities for young girls to play football.
We also have to invest in our coaches and managers right from grassroots level, to ensure our best talent comes thorough and is adaptable to different styles.
Look at the way Sarina Wiegman likes her team to play. It is not just one formation and one style. We need to make sure our coaches are the very best so they can teach our players to be the very best… but in a broader way, not just a one-size-fits-all approach.
At England level, the facilities are of the highest standard. But we need to make sure that is filtered down to club level.
Our youth systems need to be better. They need to produce better players.
We want our England youth teams to be winning tournaments and then you get a core of players coming through to the senior team. Before yesterday's final, people were wondering if Spain could handle the occasion. But when you looked back, the majority of their players had been playing together and winning international tournaments at youth level. Those experiences put them in a fantastic place.
Specialist coaches for the women's game is another thing that needs to come in, but it can't just happen at the top. You have to look at the female body and the way it grows, especially when training young players. Those specialists need to come in at an early age, because growth spurts for boys and girls happen at different times.
Individually, when you are doing weight training — the mechanics of how you are moving and how your body is growing at different phases of the menstrual cycle — there needs to be a lot more work done in areas like that.
Hopefully, the way this World Cup has captured the attention of the nation will mean it will be a lot easier to have these conversations around investment.
Even in defeat, these Lionesses have still inspired a generation.
One of the biggest things for me yesterday was the television coverage, turning on and being able to watch a big build-up to a women's game. Coverage started at 9.25am on ITV (hosted by Laura Woods, pictured) and 9.45am on the BBC, well over an hour before kick-off. That is a big change from what we've been used to in the women's game.
Finals are all about winning but England players can be proud.
Now it is up to the authorities to ensure everything the Lionesses have done leads to long-lasting change in the sport at all levels.
