England's loss to Spain in the Euro 2024 final shows they still lack ability to control games when it matters

That England lost to the better team had become a truism seconds after Spain had erupted into celebrations. Why does it have to be that way? 

England have been blessed with almost everything they might need to win a tournament. In pure talent terms, Gareth Southgate had depths of quality among his 26 that at the very least matched and arguably exceeded what Luis de la Fuente was working with, particularly in the absence of Rodri in the second half. Those players, so exceptional for some of the most successful teams across Europe, have been afforded time to grow as a squad. Six of those who started the Euro 2020 final were back on the Olympiastadion field three years later.

Almost every favorable break that could have gone their way on the road to Berlin had done so. A winnable group topped in second gear, drama elsewhere that lumped every other serious contender on the other side of the bracket, magic from Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka, a helping hand from VAR and maybe the best player in the world being forced out midway through the final. England will be a contender for years to come, but they are not getting that many breaks again. 

England had taken their hard knocks in years gone by, every tournament defeat hammering home the message that this team had to be able to set the terms of engagement in the biggest game. First Luka Modric, then Frenkie de Jong, Jorginho and Aurelien Tchouameni. Fabian Ruiz is the latest in that impressive lineage. When Spain had the ball it stuck. Of their 438 possession sequences, more than 40 percent ran to nine passes and beyond. Their average possession ran for 27 seconds. For England those numbers are 21 percent and a shade under 15 seconds. It felt like that too. Every English move seemed to fly by in double speed. In an instant they were upfield with Bellingham, Saka or, on one exhilarating occasion, John Stones, waiting for Harry Kane to get in a position to receive a pass. A sea of red shirts surrounded a lonely man in white, just waiting to have his ball stolen.

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It is all well and good to note that England haven't produced their midfield metronome, to bemoan the misfortune for the national team that Jurgen Klopp saw a right back rather than regista when Trent Alexander-Arnould caught his eye. Perhaps in two years time Kobbie Mainoo, a peripheral figure on Sunday night, or Adam Wharton will have become that player. Declan Rice likely won't, but he could be even more valuable if his energy reserves weren't so depleted.

There are more ways to control a game than just sticking a 50-plus pass midfielder into proceedings, but England are damned if they can find them. Kane has spent enough of the tournament dropping away from the spots where he is most effective that it must be with the tacit endorsement of Southgate. If so, it is an almighty hindrance on the English cause. He himself proved at the start of this tournament how valuable he can be if he stays high and forces opponents to concede space for the creators behind him to do their thing. When he does that, England can get in the attacking third and stay there. When he is right on top of midfielders who aren't passing to him, it is no wonder that his team look stodgy, their spacing a mess.

In the 12 minutes between their captain's withdrawal and Cole Palmer's brilliant equaliser, England hardly monopolized possession as Spain did for the rest of the match. They were still controlling the contest though, because they were forcing an opponent to change what they were doing in response to the threats they could pose. Aymeric Laporte and Robin Le Normand, loath to get into a foot race with Ollie Watkins, dropped deeper. As bodies flooded into the Spanish area, space opened up at the edge of the box. For all the complexities of this game, it can be a simple one to swing your way. Make space for yourself. Exploit it.

Palmer gave England a chance. They frittered it away, that familiar theme of this team responding to prosperity by bunkering down, hoarding their meagre rewards in the hope that the other team would just go away. Southgate has insisted throughout this tournament, and indeed much of his tenure, that he does not tell his team to do that. But they do. They cannot help themselves. In tied situations during the knockout stages England have had 26 shots on goal and given up 30. For the comPetition as a whole they have put up 3.48 xG and allowed 4.67 when the scores are even. In that scenario they have the 19th best xG difference. That is merely a statistical reflection of what everyone feels when they watch the Three Lions murmur when they might growl. They are so much more conservative than they need to be.

In spite of all that, England have given a nation starved of Footballing hope from their men's team a reason to believe. The whiplash experience of following this team means Southgate might well have gone from the root cause of all the trouble to the man they serenade and back again in the space of a week. Fortunately for the country, he himself seems to have a clearer view than most of what his team, his employers and his country need. When he took the helm in 2016 no one liked the England team, least of all the players. That has changed, an exceptional feat at a time when so many in roles of comparable iNFLuence have traded in rancour and division.

Southgate will be afforded the chance to make his own decision on his future. He himself hinted that his mind is not yet made up, saying in the aftermath of defeat: "I don't think now is the time to make a decision like that. I've got to talk to the right people. It's just not for now. I think England are in a really good position in terms of the experience they've got now, the ages of the squad. Most of this squad are going to be around not only for the next World Cup but the next Euros as well. There's lots to look forward to but at this moment that's not any consolation really."

He is right, England are nearly there. To take that next step, from runners-up to champions, finals can no longer be events that happen to this team. Somehow they must learn to master the greatest of occasions.