00:00And I mean, I suppose the flip side to that, Mark, would be that even though England aren't
00:05playing great, and I think we can all agree on that, they are somehow in a Euro semi-final. I
00:10mean, could they stagger through this as well? Is there an argument to be made for results being
00:16more important than performances at this stage? Oh, 100%. And if England, you know, perform the
00:22way they did in the last three, four games over the next two games and they win both those, then
00:28nobody's really talking about performances, I don't think. We're just celebrating a moment
00:33in history. But I mean, I look back to history in this point, and I look back at Italian 90,
00:38England stumbled through large parts of that tournament, you know, could have went out in
00:42the group stages, could have went out in the last 16 against Belgium, could have went out against
00:46Cameroon in the quarterfinal. I look at Euro 96, weren't great in the group stages at Euro 96.
00:52And, you know, had to come through a penalty shootout against Spain. So
00:56tournaments really aren't about playing well. I mean, in an ideal world, you will play well,
01:01but it's about getting the results. That's all that matters. I can remember Greece won in Europe
01:062004, and a god-awful team. They were just organized and disciplined. And I think that's
01:11kind of what, you know, England kind of need to be in these next two games, or hopefully two games.
01:16I just think the problem with Holland is, or the Netherlands, it's a big step up
01:21from where England have been. You know, you write about Van Dijk, probably the best centre-back in
01:26the world at the moment. You look throughout the side, Memphis Depay, although he didn't do it in
01:31the Premier League, he's goalscoring record for the Netherlands is incredible. You know, they
01:34have talented players right the way through that side. I think Man for Man England are better,
01:40but it's about the attitude. It's about the organization, the discipline,
01:45and really in all three areas, it's going to have to be a big improvement from England if they
01:49don't get through this on Wednesday.
01:52And I suppose, George, another positive to be taken was the fact that England
01:56looked very much calm and in control during the penalty shoot-out performance. I mean,
02:02it was very much a sort of un-English display in that respect, wasn't it? It's not something we're
02:06used to seeing from an England penalty shoot-out. I'm such a huge fan of Jordan Pigford. I think
02:13he's brought so much value to England in penalty shoot-outs. He's helped so much with that. Just
02:20the presence of him and that little bit of the unhinged. Obviously, it must rattle penalty
02:25takers a little bit, but that helps so much having someone who's capable of saving penalties because
02:30it always gives you a chance. Someone like, look at Martinez for Argentina. Look at the platform
02:36he's given them across the last three or four years. So important to have someone who can do
02:40that. And obviously, I was actually sad there when the final whistle went and I looked at who
02:47was on the pitch and I counted the penalty takers. When I listed seven to myself, I thought,
02:52okay, I actually feel quite good. I actually had no worries that we're going to lose that
02:55penalty shoot-out. It sounds crazy. I just didn't think it was our time to go out.
02:59But when I listed it and I thought, okay, Tony's on the pitch and okay, you've got
03:03Saka and then once you go Trent and then after that, you still had Eze and Rice to come after
03:09if it went a little bit further. I just felt quite at ease, to be honest. And I feel like
03:13there's just a little bit more because of the nature of the squad and the chemistry and the
03:18way that Southgate's built that culture. I just felt a little bit more relaxed about it.
03:24And what we saw were, I guess, five brilliant penalties and one really good save from Pickford.
03:29So it was kind of a perfect shoot-out from our side of it. And something like that gives you
03:33such a huge boost. You've got to think about the feeling in the squad, the celebrations,
03:39the players after the game, the weight of the shoulders just came off just a little bit.
03:43And I think there's a feeling, like you said before, with the stomping through it. It's
03:47not about performance. It doesn't say on the trophy when you win it. Stumble through the
03:51group stages, it just says winners. And for me, that is more than good enough. So I think that's
03:57a really, really big moment that people maybe understand a little bit. I think it's huge.
Comments