Trevor Steven: England are burying their inferiority complex and Nations League success can accelerate the process
As a footballing nation, England cannot expect to be winning every international tournament; all we can really ask is that the team is competitive – and we have achieved that now.
Sunday’s victory over Croatia, which sent England into next year’s Nations League Finals, was further evidence of the development seen at the World Cup in the summer, where the team reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1990.
For so long we’ve wondered if and when another trophy will come but I’m convinced now that, sooner or later, the current manager and this group of players will deliver it.
Croatia – a top side, World Cup finalists and England’s conquerors in July – represented a big psychological test, even more so when they went ahead at Wembley at the weekend.
This will show us where we really are, I thought. Could we keep it together and control the anxiety?
England did just that, turning the game around with two late goals and showing how quickly the players – even the younger ones – have matured.
They are being braver now, fuelled by the belief that Gareth Southgate has in them and vice versa.
The spirit, meanwhile, may the best I’ve seen in any England team.
On an individual level they are playing really well. The back four in particular caught my eye.
Joe Gomez has been a revelation and I love the dynamism he and John Stones have as a centre-back pairing. Ben Chilwell has come in at left-back and looks like he was born to do it.
Favourites
England’s rapid improvement means that they will be favourites to win the Nations League ahead of Portugal, Switzerland and Holland next summer.
Every other top team would love to be there but there will be no France, Spain, Germany, Italy or Belgium.
Would winning this new tournament count as ending half a century of hurt? Definitely. It is a top quality and highly competitive competition; England’s four group games against Croatia and Spain were harder than any sequence they faced at the World Cup.
If they do win, it could be just the start. The mentality will be: if we can win one then we can win lots.
Gradually, the results and performances that Southgate has overseen are chiselling away at and burying England’s long-held inferiority complex. Winning the Nations League would accelerate that process further.
Enjoy the ride
The players look like they’re enjoying every minute and riding the wave of positivity. It doesn’t look remotely fragile and they seem unaffected by talk of success.
After all, they’ve been to a World Cup semi-final already, and there’s only one game bigger than that.
We supporters should enjoy the ride too. There will be ups and downs – they can’t play brilliantly every time – but this has to be enjoyed because it is really, really good.
When you show the consistently good results that England have in the last 12 months, people start to sit up and take notice.
Southgate and his team have got the world looking at them now.