World Cup 2018: England cannot be trusted to overcome bad results and Gary Neville is part of the problem

Neville has been involved in eight of England’s last nine tournaments

Gary Neville believes he and other members of England’s ‘Golden Generation’ are to blame for the negative mentality that sets in after the Three Lions lose a game at a major tournament.

England avoided the disappointment of drawing to Tunisia in their first game in Russia when Harry Kane scored from close range in injury time in Volgograd to ensure the three points.

It was the first time England has won their first game at a World Cup since 2006 and their first win at a World Cup at all since 2010, and that poor record in major internationals has led to the tendency for the fallout to overshadow the rest of the tournament.

And Neville said it means that England cannot be trusted to overcome a bad result at the start of a tournament as a result.

“You’re on the back foot (if you don’t win first),” Neville said on ITV. “Unfortunately for England, you can’t trust us. We’ve let ourselves down – I am part of the problem by the way for eight of the last nine tournaments.

“You cannot trust us. You cannot trust us to then recover from a bad performance or result in the first game. It’s happened too many times.

“So tonight was so big and we were all sat there watching that game thinking they have to score in this last two or three minutes or else Panama could see panic set in, anxiety set in.

“All of a sudden, all of the goodwill goes out the window and it’s same old England. That’s what I am most happy with.”