Johnny Phillips: England may be peaking at the right time for final
A week is a long time in football and since penning the previous column in these pages England have, as hoped, ditched four at the back and made it through to their second European Championship final in succession.
And this also represents a first major final on foreign soil in history.
Not bad for a side which has barely strung one decent performance together, but perhaps it is finally beginning to click on the pitch.
England’s tournament up until Wednesday’s semi-final was about moments. Brilliance and fortune had taken Gareth Southgate’s men this far.
Against the Dutch there was enough to suggest that the shackles of the previous matches had come off.
With Marc Guehi restored to defence, and Kieran Trippier and Bukayo Saka excelling as wing-backs, there was a great base to attack.
It allowed Phil Foden to have his most enjoyable match of the tournament so far, playing behind Harry Kane and frequently taking up the sort of positions he finds at club level.
There can be no questioning the resilience of this team now.
After the last-gasp equaliser against Slovakia in normal time came the perfect penalty-shoot out that provided the climax to a bang average performance against Switzerland.
