The luck that had accompanied England throughout the tournament had turned away from the team. “I’m devastated,” Gareth Southgate said after the 2-1 defeat. “We just failed a little bit.”
Those words more or less sum up Southgate’s eight-year tenure as manager. The 53-year-old deserves a lot of credit for turning England into genuine contenders for major tournaments, but he was not the man to take the final step. After the tournament in Germany, it was clear that new leadership was needed and Southgate was right to leave now.
Mikel Oyarzabal’s 86th-minute goal earned Spain their fourth European title and made them the most successful team in the tournament’s history. The gulf in quality between the two teams became increasingly apparent as the game wore on and the only disappointment for Spain will be the fact that they did not win by a much larger margin.
Yes, England did a great job of stifling Luis de la Fuente’s side in the first half, but the English side showed nothing in attack. It was another example of Southgate’s apparent reluctance to take risks, prioritising discipline over creative expression.
Athletic winger Nico Williams scored early in the second half to give the Spanish side the lead after a precise pass from Lamin Yamal. After that, Spain took complete control of the game and only poor execution prevented them from increasing the score. Southgate brought on Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer to try to turn the game around.
As in the semi-final win over the Netherlands, both players gave England a much-needed injection of pace and attacking potential and this time it was Palmer who made the decisive impact, scoring from distance from a Jude Bellingham cross. Spain were confused and England had to finish off their opponents. But as we all know by now, Southgate is simply not cut out for that.
As a result, late in the game substitute Mikel Oyarzabal headed past Jordan Pickford after Mark Cucurella’s cross. Unlike the last Euro final against Italy at Wembley, this defeat was not down to a stroke of luck on penalties. England were simply beaten by a much stronger team.
That’s not to say Spain have more talent. Harry Kane, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham were arguably the best players in the Bundesliga, Premier League and La Liga respectively last season. Southgate could also use Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice, while Palmer, Watkins, Ivan Tawney and Anthony Gordon could add depth from the bench.
Spain do not have as much attacking depth as any other team in the tournament. But England did not make the most of their advantage. These players did not do what they do week in, week out at their clubs and Southgate must take much of the blame for that.
The manager’s cautious mentality rubbed off on the team and his lack of tactical insight caused confusion. England lacked a clear pattern of play and instead relied on isolated chances to reach their second successive Euro final.
England were ranked 10th in expected goals (xG) and before the final, England were in the same position in shots on target. Southgate failed to fulfil the team’s potential, pure and simple. He injected a real team spirit that had been missing for decades, but he didn’t know how to make England winners.
Southgate’s blind devotion to Kane has held England back. It is not the first time a manager has backed one of his favourites despite demands for a change. Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling, Kalvin Phillips and Harry Maguire have also held similar positions in the team at previous tournaments.
Euro 2024 will go down in history as yet another missed opportunity. Southgate has the second-best winning percentage of any England manager since Alf Ramsey and is the only man to have reached the final of two major tournaments with England, but he again benefited from a favourable draw in Germany.
Spain beat Italy, Croatia, Germany and France en route to the Berlin final, while England beat Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland and one of their weakest teams in recent memory, the Netherlands. When England faced a world-class team, they lost immediately.
The story was similar at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, where Croatia and France respectively beat England in the late stages. In the Euro 2020 final, England were at least on par with Italy in terms of quality of play, but psychologically the Italians were stronger, as the penalty shootout showed.
England’s performance at Euro 2024 was more painful and boring than enjoyable. But the FA wanted Southgate to stay at the helm beyond his contract, which was due to expire in December. Southgate is the FA’s ideal manager: a conservative, well-mannered manager who rarely exposes his inner frustration or unease in public.
The FA could also point to his unrivaled record in the face of criticism and the lack of suitable English candidates to replace him. Southgate has given England fans many wonderful memories, but there has been no progress. It is time for a new manager to try to win England’s first trophy since 1966.
Vyacheslav Gorbachev, Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
