Only one man in charge: how Pickford became England’s penalty hero

Others may have gone missing, but the goalkeeper has been Southgate’s most reliable player in Germany

Perhaps the most striking part of England’s quarter-final victory against Switzerland in Düsseldorf was the sense of contrast. For large parts of normal and extra time England once again played like a team here under sufferance.

This was another awkward dance without music, a facsimile of how elite clubs play, footballers out there trying to run the patterns, then remembering that, actually, there are no patterns. Continue reading...