Gary Neville led criticism of England’s “woeful” displays after the team snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Slovakia to progress to the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.
A late bicycle kick from Jude Bellingham rescued Gareth Southgate and his players from a 1-0 defeat which would have gone down as one of the team’s worst ever results given their pre-tournament billing as favourites.
As the whistle blew on the team’s extra-time victory, Neville said England “have been woeful for four games” and he suggested Southgate had been fortunate.
“We all know him in the studio,” said Neville of Southgate. “He’s a great guy — he’s got massive integrity obviously but he will realise tonight that he was so close to the edge. Very close to the edge.”
Ian Wright, speaking on ITV, was also bleak in his assessment of England’s tournament prospects, having been saved by Harry Kane’s extra-time winner.
“It’s very difficult to look at England and feel confident going forward,” said Wright. “But we’ve just shown that we’ve got two players that are capable of putting out fires.”
Despite the early struggles, England supporters inside the Arena AufSchalke were delirious in their celebrations at full-time, though Neville was not among them.
“Sweet Caroline doesn’t sound very sweet,” Neville added. “Relief is the word of the day. We’ve been very, very lucky and we should thank our lucky stars because we were woeful and we’ve been woeful now for four games. Not even in extra time did we play well and Slovakia were unlucky at the end.
“We’ve got to change something dramatically and Gareth will realise tonight that he was so close to the edge.”
Those watching from their sofas were even more critical of Southgate prior to full-time as he faced widespread scorn for failing to make substitutions earlier in the match.
Former Germany full-back Moritz Volz said: “Gareth Southgate is more conservative than the Tories” while Piers Morgan, the TV host and journalist, added that: “Southgate’s frozen. He’s pulled a Joe Biden.”
Izzy Christiansen, the former England midfielder, also told BBC Radio 5 Live, that “Slovakia were the better team but there are moments in that game where you can cling on to it”.