Southgate praises team spirit but says they ‘need’ and ‘want’ to be better

July 1 – Gareth Southgate and his players can talk all they like about togetherness and spirit. But there was only one way to sum up England’s last-gasp win over Slovakia that avoided the ultimate humiliation: The Great Escape.

England reached the quarter-finals of a major tournament for a fourth consecutive time under Southgate but Sunday’s 2-1 win owed more to good fortune than good play.

A moment of individual brilliance by Jude Bellingham and a Harry Kane header came in a two-minute...