Losses to
Spain and the
USA made it seven defeats in 11 for a team that seem to be regressing under the current manager
The
Football Association may have privately said it would stick with the man in charge regardless of results in the US but, ultimately, governing bodies and clubs only back managers until they don’t feel they can any longer. Neville has said himself that results and performances have not been good enough. He has been afforded time, he has had two years in the job, but the defensive fragility and failure to produce more clinical performances in attack, that have been a feature of his tenure, remain. The FA cannot afford to compromise on a successful Euro 2021 campaign on home soil. They may keep the manager until this summer’s Team GB Olympic campaign – if Tokyo 2020 goes ahead – but wait too long to change things and the governing body runs the risk of giving any successor a tight, if not impossible, window to try and turn around the team’s fortunes before the European Championship.