England Daily Digest: 28 June

Last updated : 28 June 2019 By Three Lions

A year on from Russia 2018 and Phil Neville is drawing Gareth Southgate comparisons and not just because he too has guided an England team to the semi-final of a World Cup following Thursday evening’s excellent 3-0 victory against Norway which set up a final four contest against either hosts France or holders USA.

Unlike Southgate, of course, Neville inherited a squad with recent knowledge of reaching the business end of tournaments having made the semi-finals of both the last World Cup and Euro 2017.

But Mark Sampson’s departure had caused controversy and the potential, it seemed, for a split in the camp and Neville looks to have emulated Southgate not only in getting the build-up to a big tournament just right but also to have created the conditions for every member of his squad to pull in the same direction once there.

The right balance between work and play seems to have been struck and a human side presented to both the head coach (which seems to come naturally) and his players.

At present, however, the achievement is the same as four years ago and as Neville himself has said it is exactly the kind of upcoming hurdle that he was hired to get past.

His appointment, as left-field (and seemingly by chance) as it seemed at the time, has paid off for the FA both on and off the pitch. Can it now be capped with a place in the World Cup Final?

England’s semi-final will take place at 8pm on Tuesday evening in Lyon.