I've had a couple of day's to get over the disappointment of England's defeat on Saturday.
Not that I was annoyed by Englands performance, far from it. In fact, I would say it's probably the best I've seen them play against elite opposition. They managed to keep Mbappe & Dembele in particular quiet, no mean feat considering their recent form and managed to create a number of decent chances for themselves.
Despite this though, this is a very talented French side and for every player you're able to control there is one equally as talented who can hurt you, such as Antoine Griezmann, his creativity one of the main deciding factors on the night.
One of the others of course, is the mixed fortunes of Harry Kane from the penalty spot. Some pundits will say he should have handed the 2nd penalty over after scoring his first, to those pundits I ask, who would you rather have taking a penalty in that moment. There is no one in my mind at least.
Kane's performance was superb. He put in a proper center forwards performance, I would imagine French centre half Dayot Upamecano was a very relieved man when the final whistle went having been given the runaround and been by the Tottenham striker, It's such a shame that the man who carried his nation through it at times is the one to miss at such a crucial moment. I hope he can bounce back from this, as his overall display on Saturday night convinced me that when he's fully fit he's the best number 9 on the planet, capable of scoring and creating in equal measure.
Talk now turns towards the future of Gareth Southgate and whether or not he is the right man to take this group forward.
Pre-tournament that was a vocal minority who felt he was holding this group back, especially during the fallout of the disastrous Nations League campaign. The World Cup campaign has won some doubters back around, myself included, but there are still a number out there who feel it's time to move on.
One of my friends is one of those people, and I can half understand the viewpoint. But, the question isn't just about Southgate, it's also about who should follow.
The bookies favourite is Maurichio Pochettino. An astute tactician who's out of work following a bruising spell at PSG, A coup if you could pull it off, but Is someone who's stock is still reasonable high and at 50 surely would still expect to land a high level club side. Also, as an aside, can you imagine the response of certain tabloids if England were to hire an Argentinian manager? We know what they're like!
Thomas Tuchel is a name being bandied about, but he's also young, and I'd imagine have his heart set on working at club level again. Names like Brendan Rodgers, Steve Cooper & Graham Potter are all tied into contracts at Premier League clubs and there is little chance Eddie Howe would consider leaving Newcastle at this current moment in time.
With reasonable doubts as to whether these names would consider taking the job you're now looking at the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard & Wayne Rooney if you're using odds to get a sense of the short list. Each have had their difficulties in their fledgling managerial careers. And there are doubts as to whether these three are tactically astute in any case.
Were Southgate available with his current CV for another nation you'd snap him up in a heartbeat. He's brought the players together and gotten them to buy into the England set up, no mean feat looking back just 7 years ago! And has them performing with a consistency they've never played with before.
If he's willing to keep going, he himself admitted he's found large chunks of the last 18 months difficult, then I truly believe he's the right man for the job and more importantly the players do too. Let's see if he can take this vibrant young team to even greater heights in Euros in 2024, he's earned that right.