Sunday, November 10, 2024

England’s Euro 2024 panic is premature but Gareth Southgate has to act now

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England have struggled for form during their opening two games of Euro 2024 and despite the Three Lions looking safe for a spot in the next round, Gareth Southgate now needs to start making brutal calls

Gareth Southgate has some thinking to do for England’s final group game(Getty Images)

It’s where you finish, not how you start.

England’s two performances at Euro 2024 have been well below par, but it is important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. At the World Cup in Qatar, they took four points from their first two games after demolishing Iran and a drab 0-0 draw with the United States – and they went on to the quarter-finals.




And at Euro 2020, they took four points again from a solid but unspectacular win against Croatia and another 0-0 draw with Scotland – and they went on to reach the final. So while I can understand the negativity, and there was a torrent of it on Six-0-Six on Thursday night, there is no need to panic.

They have four points from two games again. I have no doubt England will qualify for the knockout stage, and they will probably top the group. But they may have to sacrifice one or two big hitters, either by starting with them on the bench or changing things up after 60 minutes, to get the balance right.

So far, they remind me of the days when Sven-Goran Eriksson played Paul Scholes on the left flank because he had to accommodate Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the middle. You’re not going to get the most out of your best players if you don’t play them in their best position.

‌But Kieran Trippier, a right-back, has been playing left-back, Phil Foden has been playing on the left when he is most effective in the middle and the experiment of playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield hasn’t worked.

I think the omission of Marcus Rashford from the squad looks more like a mistake by the day because his pace would have been such an asset in a side which has looked too static. You can’t manufacture pace, you can’t go out and buy it off the shelf at your local supermarket. As a player, I always hated being up against pace – because if you can’t catch an opponent, you are always struggling.

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