As England’s footballers shuffled sleeplessly away from their training base at Al-Wakrah on Sunday, the team’s youngest player was asked whether he had a message for supporters. “Stick with us,” said Jude Bellingham. The 19-year-old’s tone was confident, defiant, even optimistic. And it reflected a wider message from the camp: that when it comes to England’s World Cup postmortem there is no need for a scalpel.
The players want Gareth Southgate to stay as manager. Judging by the relative lack of bile and calls for blood that followed England’s 2-1 defeat against France, the majority of the public do too. There was also little anger directed towards the captain, Harry Kane, even though his second penalty had more chance of finding orbit around Doha than the back of the net.
