Football news - Defensive calamities undo England as Dutch reach Nations League final

An extra-time capitulation saw England beaten 3-1 by the Netherlands on Thursday evening as they were knocked out of the inaugural Nations League at the semi-final stage.

Much like the Champions League final on Saturday the game was strewn by errors with England in particular really struggling to complete their passes and hold onto the ball, with the latter a worrying recent trend for Gareth Southgate's side.

Roland Koeman's Dutch team advance to a final with Portugal in Porto while England will remain in Guimaraes to meet Switzerland in the third place play-off on Sunday.

England had gone ahead in the first half, albeit against the run of play, when Marcus Rashford calmly sent Jasper Cillessen the wrong way from the penalty spot after the Manchester United forward was taken out in the box by Matthijs de Ligt.

However that was as good as it got as De Ligt atoned for his mistake by beating John Stones and Kyle Walker from a corner to power a header past Jordan Pickford.

As the game wore on, Southgate turned to his big guns with Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson and then Dele Alli being sent for from the bench and England felt they had a winner seven minutes from time when another substitute, Jesse Lingard, finished off a fine pass from Jadon Sancho only to be called back for offside by VAR.

Southgate then had to watch in horror as his defence gave up two criminal goals in extra-time.

First Stones and then Ross Barkley were caught out, with the Dutch taking advantage and scoring twice through a Walker own-goal and a fine finish from substitute Quincy Promes to condemn England to a bitter and unbelievable finale.

After the World Cup Southgate spoke about improving his team on the ball, taking them to the next level. However, this transition hasn't happened, far from it in fact.

The England defence and midfield looked nervous on the ball, regularly getting caught out and failing to retain the ball at all. Southgate's ambitions for the team are admirable, make no mistake about that, but until he has the tools for that style perhaps he is best sticking with the strategy that has brought him success.

By contrast the Dutch revolution under Ronald Koeman continues and whilst there are obvious holes in this team they are a really dangerous unit going forward. Memphis Depay playing in the withdrawn striker role is never going to bring the consistency you crave from him but the way he pulls opposition defences apart is critical for how Koeman wants his team to play. Given the relative age of this team they are going to be a force to be reckoned with next summer in the European Championships.

Speaking of young players who are comfortable on the ball. In a game where England couldn't use the ball particularly effectively De Jong was a glorious example of how far we have to go.

Just as Luka Modric did last summer De Jong ran the show against England from the middle of the pitch, effortlessly receiving the ball under pressure and making intelligent passes.

De Jong has been hyped up by a large portion of football fans, and it seems that at every opportunity he has to show off his skills he takes it. He's an exceptional young talent and he is going to be a joy to watch for many years to come.