I have incredible admiration for USA and the determination they possess as a unit of 23 players and staff to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Winning means everything to them. England came up against a better and more experienced team and now need to think about how they can make a difference to get to the same level.

The tournament has been hugely positive in terms of how we see the women’s game and there is no disgrace in losing to the holders and favourites in the semi-finals but England were, in the end, tactically deficient and fell short.

We are right to be proud of the team, of how they have played and carried themselves, but the one thing that truly brings pride is success. Somehow England just cannot get over the line in the last four. Once again, like the men in Russia last year and the women in Canada in 2015, England have lost when it matters. For all the positives our memories of France 2019 cannot and will not be cherished like those from four years ago.

Even if England win on Saturday, a bronze medal does not match our ambitions any more. The goal was to win this World Cup and England have failed to do that. I applaud Phil Neville’s honesty in saying the same. It is now about figuring out how to become serial winners like USA.

England crash out after shift in tactics and failure to fix defensive flaws | Jonathan Wilson Read more

The last time England played USA at the World Cup, in Tianjin 12 years ago, I was in the team who lost 3-0 in the quarter-finals. I played up front and barely had a touch. Many were intimidated before we even got on to the pitch. The Americans finished third but were much better than us that day. The fact we now push them so close demonstrates how the game has developed. The margin of victory on Tuesday was slim and England had a goal disallowed for a marginal offside and missed a penalty. But to win a World Cup semi-final you have to get everything right, in your performance and tactics, and this is not something we could say of the team in Lyon.

Neville has been an excellent manager and I do not want to criticise too much but he made some poor decisions. I am also not a coach and do not understand what it takes to take charge at the highest level so I give my opinions simply as an observer and player. It started with pre-match comments about spies in the hotel and Lucy Bronze winning the Ballon d’Or, which felt like a distraction. Perhaps he was enjoying the media circus a little bit too much. Then there were his tactical novelties, which I think failed massively.

I feel that sometimes managers think that, if they can come up with a tactic that leads to success in a major game, they can get all the plaudits. I do not know what motivated Neville to make the changes to shape and personnel but, as a player, I was annoyed. I could not understand why players such as Nikita Parris were in unfamiliar positions where they have to think about everything they do, rather than in regular positions where things come naturally.

Parris is one of England’s best attacking players, and was outstanding on the right wing against Norway in the quarter-finals. As far as I know she had never played as a No 10 before Neville put her there in Lyon, and you could tell. She is an outstanding, influential player but hardly touched the ball in the first half. In an unfamiliar shape, against intimidating opponents, England could not get players high enough, and their attackers, with the exception of Ellen White, were ineffective for most of the game.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nikita Parris struggled playing as a No 10 behind Ellen White. Photograph: Catherine Ivill - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

Neville’s England have played and prospered using a 4-3-3 but they lined up in a 4-4-1-1. I would have understood if they had switched to put two up front and stressed USA’s centre-halves, Becky Sauerbrunn and Abby Dahlkemper. They have not really been tested in this tournament, and looked uncomfortable against Spain when pressed. But England left White as a lone striker and moved Parris into an uncomfortable position behind her.

USA’s Tobin Heath had a field day in the first half, when she had the run of the right wing. Demi Stokes had to do to Heath what the USA left-back, Crystal Dunn, did to France’s Kadidiatou Diani in the quarter-finals: get in her face, ruffle her up a bit, put a foot in. But Heath found too much space and was involved in the buildup to the first goal. Their second came from a great ball from Lindsey Horan but she was under no pressure. Too much time was given to players too often. Meanwhile Beth Mead was too deep; the one time she got forward in that opening period she was picked out by Keira Walsh’s fantastic pass, played an exceptional ball and White scored. England needed much more of that but the formation did not allow it.

My opinion is that Neville overthought it. The formation put England off-balance. Then for the second half he reverted to 4-3-3. This is something that baffles me about managers: if you know the formation that you will revert to if you are in trouble, why not start with it? If you trust the 4-3-3 when times are bad, go with it. Lo and behold, England got more players high up the pitch, created more chances and worried USA’s backline. The problem with tactical novelties that might lead to a manager being hailed as a hero is that if they do not come off they are the villain.

Despite all that, England had a chance to get back into the game when they won a penalty. Parris had taken the three England had previously been awarded in the World Cup and scored only one. This time Steph Houghton took responsibility. Neville said the players that had practised in training over six months, had taken something in the region of 150 penalties and had decided the order based on that. Sometimes, however, you have to adjust within the game. White is in fantastic form and must have been on top of the world in terms of confidence. What happened in a training session six months ago is irrelevant; just give her the ball.

Neville said defeat in the semi-final would be a failure and he was right. We cannot keep saying England have inspired a generation. At some point that generation needs to learn not just to reach semi-finals but to win them. We need to become the USA. A lot of what England have done at this World Cup has been excellent; next time it has to be exceptional.

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