Analysing England's Euro 2024 Performance
England lost in a tight battle with Spain in the Euro's final, and now, let's analyse their performance over the course of the tournament.
England have had a tournament that has received mixed reviews. While our overall team cohesion and general play has been really poor, England have provided some breathtaking moments. From a stoppage time bicycle kick to a no-look penalty to an inspirational substitute, England have been exciting (past the 90th minute). Today, we will take a brief look at England’s journey to the final, and I will explain where I think our problems were against Spain.
Group Stage
England kicked off their campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Serbia, courtesy of Jude Bellingham’s decisive header. A 1-1 draw against Denmark saw Harry Kane find the net, but it left fans hungry for more. Despite a goalless stalemate with Slovenia, England secured top spot in their group.
Knockout Drama
The last 16 clash against Slovakia was a nail-biter. Ivan Schranz struck first for Slovakia, but Bellingham’s acrobatic equalizer sent the game into extra time. In extra time, captain Kane’s header sealed a 2-1 win to secure (probably) the most memorable win for England of the campaign. It’s not often that you get a game equaliser being a bicycle kick in the 90+4th minute after all. In the quarter-finals, England faced Switzerland, and after a tense 1-1 draw, it was penalty shootout heroics that saw England through to the semis. Next up was the Netherlands, a team that were seen as quite even competition for England leading up to the match. The Dutch took the lead in the 7th minute, but Kane equalised with a controversial penalty only 11 minutes later. The game was quite back-and-forth and the pace slowed down after these goals, but in the 90th minute, Ollie Watkins pulled off an immaculate turn and shot to win England the game. You might as well have turned these games on at the 90th minute and skipped over an hour of sideways passing to have an enjoyable experience watching, but in the end, we did make it to the final. Let’s discuss that game itself.
Spain had a confident lead of 66% possession going into the half time break and controlled the first half well despite some good chances for England, and at half time, England were given a golden opportunity to change the game in their favour. Rodri, Spain’s fundamental controlling player, was taken off the pitch injured, leaving England with an opportunity to win the midfield battle, take control of the game and score because of that. What changed in England’s game plan after being given this chance? Nothing. We continued to lose the midfield battle, and within 2 minutes of the second half getting underway, Spain had scored because of England’s poor transition to defending. Spain came forward with pace, and England looked like they had no idea what was going on. The reason for this is certainly because Southgate decided that the knockouts of a major tournament was the perfect time to change England’s formation from a back four to a back 3 with wing-backs. England players obviously need to be given much more time to adapt to a new formation and style of play, rather than being told to change tactics mid-tournament, and I think that our lack of cohesion because of this is what led us to conceding this goal. Palmer’s equaliser was a beautiful shot, and probably a reminder for Southgate that leaving Palmer out for so long was the wrong decision, but Spain did eventually score again, and put the Euro 2024 trophy in their hands.
Spain were favourites going into this game, but it is disappointing that England have come so close to winning 2 major tournaments in the last 4 years, but fallen at the final hurdle in both. It is probably the right time for Southgate to move on after 8 years, and he has left England in a better state than he found it, which was a distraught England camp without desire to win trophies. Southgate has had a big impact on England’s spirit, but it is time for him to move on now. We need a manager capable of properly managing attacking talent like Foden, Bellingham, Palmer, Saka and so many more players. We can respect what Southgate has done for England as manager while also saying that the players at our disposal need a change of management now.
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