How England CAN beat Spain to win Euro 2024

England face Spain in the final hurdle of a tough to watch Euro 2024 campaign. Can they make it over the line against an unbeaten side? That is what we discuss today on Football Latest.

England can beat Spain in the final of Euro 2024. They have the individual brilliance and they have a team that has produced some of the most exciting game endings of the tournament, despite overall uninteresting football throughout. By no means do I say that England go into this game as favourites. Spain have beaten France, Croatia and the host nation Germany to get here and have won every game in the tournament without a single penalty shootout. England have had an easier run to the final, but that does not mean that we should discount our chances of winning this game. Let’s discuss today how we can win against Spain.

The key to this game is to shut down Rodri.

If England can do this effectively, then they will rip Spain’s goalscoring system to shreds. Rodri is the player who plays technically exceptional passes in between the midfield lines to advanced midfielders like Dani Olmo, as well as wingers Yamal and Nico Williams. If we can put extreme pressure on Rodri when he receives the ball and have brilliant interceptions of the passes that he does make, we can minimise Spain’s goalscoring chances.

Which player can do this effectively?

When thinking about a commanding player in the midfield with high pressing abilities who is active as a box-to-box midfielder for England, one name comes to mind first, and that is Kobbie Mainoo. In the final, I think that he should occupy a role further up the pitch out of possession so that his priority is always to take Rodri out of the game by closing him down at every opportunity. By no means is this a job that he will find easy, but of all of the players in England’s squad, he is the player with the best skillset to shut down Rodri.

Spain have another way to score goals.

Like any good team, Spain don’t just have one way that they like to score goals. They can still progress further up the pitch through other areas, and the main way that they do this is through their wingers, specifically two wingers who have lit up the tournament so far: Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams. Nico Williams should not be a huge problem for England to deal with, as since he plays on the left wing for Spain, Walker should confidently be able to shut him down. The problem for England is going to be Lamine Yamal, who, at the age of 16 already seems like a complete player and a generational talent, with an absolute screamer against France and a magical first season with Barcelona. Spain will almost definitely try to exploit Trippier’s lack of pace and ability at Left-Back by using Yamal as their main outlet throughout the game, as Yamal will likely be able to confidently beat Trippier in 1v1s in his current form. The one solution that England could deploy to nullify Yamal’s goal threat would be to push the left centre-back out of position so that England can double up on Yamal throughout the game. This player would likely be Mark Guehi in the upcoming game, but pulling him out of position could leave a gap in our defence that an advanced midfielder like Dani Olmo could run into and score a goal from, like we have seen him do 3 times so far this tournament. This would mean that England need to be the most defensively disciplined as they have been all tournament, but if they can do this, and players like Saka, Foden and Bellingham can provide moments of brilliance, then there is no reason that England cannot win this tournament.

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