Southgate leaves himself exposed as dire display reopens old wounds

When the final whistle blew, boos boomed among the England fans at Al-Bayt Stadium.

They had enough.

A 0-0 draw against the Americans so turgid that the referee only added on four minutes – the lowest so far at this World Cup of 100-minute matches.

It seemed the 6-2 rout of Iran was just an anomaly on Monday.

This was the type of dire display England supporters have had to get used to in this year of six winless matches going into the World Cup and relegation in the Nations League.

Once again, Gareth Southgate is feeling the heat – despite leading England to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, and Euro 2020 final. The frustrated fans made that clear with the jeering.

The Three Lions manager said: “People are going to react how they react, and I can’t let that affect how I feel about the team or how the team feels.”

‘We had to show another side’

Too defensive and too boring was the snap reaction of fans filtering out of the stadium.

Southgate accepted some concerns:…