We drew with them, tbf, and won on penalties. Objectively, it wasn't great

Even though in the end result is all that matters.

I don't disagree with what you've said, and if you read my other posts on this thread I think you'll see we're pretty well aligned.

My point here is just that 2018 wasn't an over achievement - losing to Colombia or Sweden, or not getting out of the group would have been an embarrassment, right up there with some of the worst failures we've had - and yes, there have been a few.

We were knocked out by the first decent team we played. As we have been in most world cups, this just happened to be in the semi final.

Like you, I think we've achieved on a pretty consistent basis under Southgate. Getting to the final in 2021, and taking it to pens, arguably was over achievement. Italy were better than us.

Posted By: SimonOTBC, Jun 14, 12:21:27