There's not too much between the two teams. You even play a similar cautious style in possession and you also do similar things in the build-up. Keep three at the back, push the LB way up the pitch and try to cook something from there. The main difference is that France main objective is to keep the ball on the left because Mbappé moves in that area, while England looks for the switch ball toward the weak-side where Saka can finish, Henderson can create and Rashford can come on as a fresh sub. The big question is how will the threat that Mbappé poses affect the effectiveness of your right flank. Yes, you'll probably be the ones more willing to slow things down in the midfield, but that's down to not wanting to lose the ball centrally and have the French running at Maguire.
I get the pessimism, after some harsh defeats, but, as you said, that's a good England team. It's not the dysfunctional side that was trying to play 442 with Gerrard and Lampard in the midfield. And it's better than the team that managed to make Ricardo, of all people, a hero in two shoot-outs. I don't know, maybe it's me. There were people (even Englishmen) laughing at England since the 90s and saying how they bottled their chances. I never understood the ridicule. I have watched both the 1990 and the 1996 SFs against Germany. It's a miracle how the Germans won both these games.
Anyway, i just hope to see a great match between two European powerhouses.
