Humble pie

Denmark put us under a bit of pressure for the first 2 minutes of the second half of extra time and then barely touched the ball. again.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

As a big critic of Southgate I have to give him credit for finding ways to win in KO games. To be honest I don’t care if England play well or badly as long as they score more than the other lot. That was our attitude in 66 and it’s still mine today.

He has been blessed with a talented squad, not just one or two individuals and his biggest achievement for me is making them forget their clubs and play for Club England.

But he has been given the easiest ride I’ve ever known by the media even including Ramsey who had to take heavy flack for the “wingless wonders” selection and picking Hurst over Greaves and his so called dismissive attitude to the media when he protected his players. Southgate has never had real dirt digging or scam setting or “turnip” heading if his side played badly.

I think they were well ready to go after him but it's hard when he keeps delivering. Been loads of grumbles though - defence was crap, Trippier at left back is madness, Sterling shouldn't be picked, can't control games in midfield, terrible negative team against Germany....  

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

Denmark put us under a bit of pressure for the first 2 minutes of the second half of extra time and then barely touched the ball. again.

Yes, we have a fit squad of players with similar abilities who are by and large interchangeable. So.Southgate is in the enviable position last night of being able to use his subs to freshen up the side as needed whereas Denmark I felt had a decent side but a lesser bench to call on so they tailed off in the last ten minutes, mentally and physically.

Fair play to Southgate, I didn’t think for one minute he’d be able to take us to that level. What he’s shown is the ability to bring a squad together, a thing that (rather disgracefully and the fact past players admit this live on TV is embarrassing) we’ve never had before.

That alone has been worth it’s weight in gold, he’s learnt from lessons in the past and he’s taught a lot of us a few lessons as well.

Hats off to him

The very best way to defend a 1 goal lead is to make it a 2 goal lead. We had a few chances to break against the ten men of Denmark in the second half of extra time but didn't try. I'm not saying we should have gone gung ho, but we had 3 or 4 players against fewer defenders on a couple of occasions and it was worth trying to make the game absolutely safe.

A good spell of possession near the end to really take the sting out of the game, but passing up good chances to score a second at pretty much no risk will never sit well with me. That's true whether I'm watching England or GTFC. I hate it when the ball is taken into the corner and thankfully we only did that once that I can remember - much better to pass it around as we did last night.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

I think they were well ready to go after him but it's hard when he keeps delivering. Been loads of grumbles though - defence was crap, Trippier at left back is madness, Sterling shouldn't be picked, can't control games in midfield, terrible negative team against Germany....  

Right enough and it is hard because a lot of the criticism is on social media. I think the press has been kinder than the switch hitters on Twitter.

My biggest problem is the lad from Leeds second half of extra time ball in the Denmark half keep the ball winning by one goal not him he would insist on passing the ball back not impressed with him goalkeeper poor kicking  awful my mom Kyle Walker very impressed  very pleased with the result now looking forward to Sunday my two best results I have seen at Wembley was 1966 England and 2016 Town

I found a blog I'd written five years ago lamenting the idea that Southgate could be our next manager — a manager whose only achievement in the domestic game was getting Middlesbrough relegated from the Premier League.

But some managers just work better in the international scene.

Southgate has overseen the production line of English talent. It's no fluke that he had a pretty awesome bench to call upon, and there be players like Lingard, who excelled in the PL last season, who didn't even make the squad.

I was as sceptical as the next person about Southgate's appointment. Psychologically he's got England over a number of hurdles, which is a tremendous feat in itself. He's calm, thoughtful, eloquent, diligent and a model professional in every way.

He's exactly what England needed after that shambles against Iceland.

The way I feel about this England squad, in this era, is very different to the way I viewed previous Gerrard, Lampard, Owen, Beckham and Rooney eras. Back then I was like, 'come on, you overpaid prima donnas, why aren't you playing like you do for your club?!'

These current players are probably being paid more, but you can detect a real sense of fearlessness among them. They look like they want to win for the country, not for their careers.

Naturally I'm desperate for us to win the final as that will be incredible, but part of football and sport itself is lifting the mood of the nation and bringing people together. We've all been physically apart for so long, so this is just the tonic we needed.

Win or lose, there are many heroes in that England side. Positive vibes only, going into Sunday.

Quoted from the driver

My biggest problem is the lad from Leeds second half of extra time ball in the Denmark half keep the ball winning by one goal not him he would insist on passing the ball back not impressed with him goalkeeper poor kicking  awful my mom Kyle Walker very impressed  very pleased with the result now looking forward to Sunday my two best results I have seen at Wembley was 1966 England and 2016 Town

Talking of Wembley 1966, I was 20 years old and ended up watching the final on TV in my house with 2 complete German strangers!  They were touring UK on a motorbike, and stopped at the café where my Mother worked and asked if they knew anywhere where they could watch the final, so my Mother rang me and told me I would be entertaining two guests to watch the World Cup Final!

I can't believe so many moaning. We WON, ENGLAND are in a FINAL for the first time in 55 years. To be in an international football competition final you have to play well all the time, the manager has to get the tactics right all the time, the backroom staff have to prepare the players physically and mentally to be the best for each game.

This is exactly what happened in this competition, the whole England setup got it right all the time. Yes, we are all entitled to an opinion, that's what this site is about. BUT only one man is the manager, Southgate, and given he managed a team into the FINAL he got everything right; and our opinions are irrelevant because he proved he was right.

Nobody on here could do any better so stop moaning and give praise where it's due. Get behind the entire England team and set up. We're going to win the cup, footballs coming home and the Italians are going home with nothing.

Come on England.