Football is fine margins and it always has been. Instead of talking about alternate realities let's talk about things Southgate could have done in this reality that could have shaded a close game for us:
Back Sancho or Rashy (fitness permitting) over Saka who is a fine young player but still raw.
After Mancini made a change to bring Chiesa and Insigne more into the game counter himself with a meaningful change before we got hit by an equaliser.
Make attacking subs 20/30 mins earlier and go for the game in 120 minutes instead of going listlessly into pens. Why after we dominated them for 45 minutes did Southgate not back his players to regain the initiative?
We should control those factors that are ours to control instead of asking why oh why about cards. I'm aware by the way that the OP was not in a position to affect this result and that he has called Southgate out on a few things, but I can already see Gareth getting away with this as 'one of those things' because he seems a decent guy and a passable national coach and we'll continue to be (rightly) laughed at and identified as huge footballing underachievers who find a way to feck absolutely everything up and make ourselves look foolish.
