I am talking about a noticeably declining performance, which raised the astonishment of the England fans themselves and put the coach in an embarrassing position that might cost him his position after the end of the tournament.
Instead of the quality performances that many expected from a squad that included a striking attack, with Harry Kane, Billingham, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka, Gareth Southgate’s team were content with flexibility that led them with difficulty to the semi-finals. After an unconvincing lead in a group that included Denmark, Slovakia and Serbia, Bellingham saved it with an equalizer in the last minute of the match against Slovakia in the 16th final before qualifying in extra time. In the quarter-finals, they needed penalty kicks to beat Switzerland after their 1-1 draw. Southgate, who led England to a third semi-final in four major tournaments, was met with beer cans being thrown as he tried to celebrate with his fans by qualifying for the last 16 after a goalless draw with Slovakia.

It is true that England has never won the European Nations Cup, and that in the last edition it reached the final for the first time in its history and did not win any major title except for the 1966 World Cup, which was held on its soil. However, the expectations of its fans are always very high in any tournament.