I’ve talked before in this tournament about how England often relied on their strong players to get us out of trouble.
There’s nothing wrong with that and Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham scored their goals again against Mexico.
But to be successful at this World Cup, we always needed the other players to step up and they certainly did that in the last round.
Every player who came on for Azteca played their part and Thomas Tuchel did so too with his substitutions and how well they worked.
I’m 55 years old and I would say it was the best team performance I’ve ever seen from an England team, especially away from home.
It was really nice to watch because it was pretty much complete considering what they had to go through, starting with the heights and the incredible atmosphere and then coming down to 10 people.
I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed such cohesion or team spirit to achieve results in such a difficult scenario. That’s how good it was.
It was great to see something similar in videos of players celebrating in the dressing room after John Stones pretended to be injured before dancing with the rest of the team.
I also loved Tuchel’s reaction when he realized it was a joke and it’s another insight into why this team means it when they say they’re together and the coach is part of it too.
Playing Norway in Miami will be a completely different challenge, but we have learned this World Cup: whatever happens in the game, Tuchel’s England will be ready.
I don’t look at the England team and think we have a defined identity, in the same way that Spain always dominates the ball or Argentina is built around Lionel Messi.
Instead, we adapt. So far we’ve simply played the game in front of us, changing our approach depending on who we’re up against and how the game is going.
That got us into the last eight and I don’t think that should change now.