Aye, I posted this at half-time.
What a missed opportunity. Think the comparison to Germany 2010 is really apt, and he’s picked out some pretty damning/illustrative stats of how comprehensively they failed to do that, not just in the final but throughout the whole tournament:
But in the final, between Shaw’s opener after two minutes, and Bonucci’s equaliser after 67, England only had two attempts at goal — one apiece from centre-back partners Maguire and John Stones, both at set pieces, both off-target.
Throughout the tournament, whereas Italy attempted seven shots in their seven matches in “fast break” situations, England only attempted one — Sterling, in the 120th minute of the 2-1 semi-final victory over Denmark.
That’s despite the fact England spent 265 minutes at 1-0 up in this tournament, more than any other side. That’s almost three complete games, but in that period England managed only 13 shots, and 3.0 xG, when you might have envisaged an attacking quartet, boosted by fresh options from the bench, to be creating repeated scoring chances.
