I just don't get England fandom at times. Southgate imposes a style on an international side and is pilloried for it the second it doesn't get three points. For the first time in donkey's years, England aren't just a shock-and-awe team that sees the XI best players that they have thrown onto the field but a cohesive unit that plays a certain way. It's cautious, conservative and not always stunning to watch, but it generates results. A World Cup semi-final, a NL finals spot and their first tournament final at the Euros ever where they were knocked out on penalties and he still can't win over some.
Jeez. It was a draw against Poland yesterday. So what? England were five wins from five going into it and still four points clear even after a draw. If you're getting hung up on this, have a word. It's the bigger picture that needs looking at and England should really be looking at training camps and organising the warm up games ahead of the World Cup next year. France won the World Cup in 2018 and yet in qualifying for the tournament conspired draw with Belarus and draw 0-0 at home against Luxembourg. I bet no one was mentioning those results when Pogba et al were parading the trophy around Moscow.
Despite only conceding two goals in qualifying, I still think the defence needs further work for England. It may be a question of resources at his disposal (Southgate certainly has plenty of options for the other positions), but Pickford seems to have to do a little more work than he should at times. Also, with the likes of 30 years+ players like Walker and Trippier being the mainstays, it seems as though the defence doesn't seem to have that succession planning that Southgate likes to impose with drafting in younger players. They may need to see a few more options come through the ranks.
