Not good enough. The words will sting, coming after such a chastening night, but they are unavoidable. They are, simply, the brutal truth.
For all the good work that has gone on over the past two years, for all that preparations had gone according to plan and the spirit in the squad could not have been better, when it came to the crunch, England were found wanting. Isn’t that always the case?
Gareth Southgate won’t try to paint a different picture. In conversations over the past week at England’s team hotel, he readily admitted no team that lost two of their three group games could expect anything other than criticism to come their way.
Harry Kane (centre), Danny Ings (left) and Jake Forster-Caskey all stand with hands on hips after England fell behind in the crucial fixture
The Italians celebrate their third goal, Benassi's second, which ensured England would not be able to mount a late comeback
Normally, defeat to Italy could be accepted but this was dreadful. England crumbled, turning to dust quicker than rotten bricks, suffering a 3-1 defeat that left them propping up Group B. It is the biggest loss the Under 21s have suffered since losing by the same score to Norway at Euro 2013
All kinds of debates will, inevitably, erupt in the wake of this exit but they are for another day. What first must be examined is why, after conceding goals to Andrea Belotti and a double from Marco Benassi, England could not respond.
Yet it all started so encouragingly. Southgate had been bold in his selection, giving Danny Ings his first start of the tournament, and the intensity in England’s game in the early stages was better than it had been against both Portugal and Sweden.
The message before the game from Southgate was that he felt England would score and in the first 20 minutes, as they pushed Italy back and pressed every loose ball, there was a real sense his words were not just bold rhetoric.
Nathan Redmond, one of England’s brighter performers, was the first to serve notice of the intent, jinking his way to the by-line and zipping in a cross for Harry Kane but a deflection from Alessio Romagnoli took the ball agonisingly away from the Tottenham striker.
You could see the heart they took from almost landing an early jab. They kept pushing forward, gaining in belief, but – unbeknown at the time – events in the 13th minute would have a profound effect on the destiny of the match.
When Kane looked up and spied Ings peeling off the shoulder of the last defender, he rolled a perfect ball into his path. Here was the moment Liverpool’s new striker had been waiting for, a chance to stamp his presence on the game.
Unfortunately, though, he lacked the required composure, his left foot shot going into the side netting as goalkeeper Francesco Bardi went to ground. From one direction, it appeared he had scored but the way he clasped his hands to his head told the true story.
Taking the lead at that juncture would have been huge. This always felt like a game in which the first goal would be decisive, but, initially, it did not seem as if the miss had unsettled England and they were again unlucky in the 23rd minute when Kane forced a tremendous save from Bardi.
But a mere 240 seconds later, England’s hopes of progressing in this competition lay in ruins, as they were pole-axed by two devastating counterpunches from Italy. Normally so assured at the back, the ease with which Italy found a way through left Southgate, standing in his technical area, bewildered.
First came the mood changing goal. A wonderful ball from Marco Benassi, clipped in left-footed with curl and pace, put John Stones and Ben Gibson on the back foot and Belotti, Italy’s dangerman, lunged in at the precise moment, diverting his volley beyond Jack Butland.
England needed to stay cool and re-gather their composure but, in the very next attack, the worst thing possible happened and they were breached again, this Benasi was the scorer, his shot deflecting off Ben Gibson beyond Butland after Lorenzo Crisetig sent him through.
The Italians celebrate after taking the lead, with the goal putting England's chances of reaching the semi-finals in doubt.
