Does it matter how England play if they win? 

Hilarious to see England play like united despite having Man City players, arsenal players Madrid and Bayern players 🤣🤣🤣

Gareth was 30 seconds away from being put in witness protection

"Does it matter how England play if they win?" You know, it doesn't really - but if they play like that against a strong team they will be absolutely hammered and be flying home the next day.

Southgate ball is absolute terror and when he comes back home from Germany he needs to be locked up for those disgraceful tactics (if you could even call those tactics). How Gordon didn't start or even get subbed on is beyond me, he has a LB with Gomez and for some reason refused to play him and this compounded with Walker being awful and Trent not being subbed on for a whole 120 mins to replace him + his conservative football is severely bottlenecking this teams potential. Bellinghams Madrid last minute juju bailed us out and we did not deserve that win (but hey a wins a win).

Could have opted for bringing a left back, could have noticed Trent isn't a midfielder, perhaps making a decision on whether it's Foden or Bellingham, could realised Kane drops too deep and needs attacking pace around him and after eight years, developing a suitable style and formation might see England less an identity crisis and more being true to their nature. This is so painful to watch.

Why can’t you guys just admit that Gareth Southgate taking Luke Shaw was a fucking dumb boneheaded decision and that this problem is one of his own making, for which he deserves absolutely no sympathy whatsoever?

It was a joy to watch Spain last night that’s all I can say

No sure I get the Rooney / Beckham comparison with Bellingham. Beckham won the qualifier against Greece almost by himself, Rooney would have run around the pitch trying to drag the team with him. Didn’t see any of that last night from Bellingham in fact the opposite.

When it's Southgate it doesn't matter; when it's Mourinho, he's anti football.

My guy actually said they miss players like Rashford and Sterling with a straight face 😭 😭

It's sad to see terrorism go unpunished.

On the midfield, we do also have Wharton on the bench so why bring him if you won’t use him? But John Stones has also been pretty solid in CM, who is excellent with or without the ball. Why not bring him out a bit more as he’s been hamstrung with pushing up. Also, you’ve got Curtis Jones who you sent home who played with in the midfield with TAA’s inverted role. He’s good at buzzing around and is good on the ball. If the argument against is experience, he took Phillips with only one year of Premier League football…

That's a stupid question. The whole point is the they were lucky to win. The playstyle nearly got them knocked out. The goal wasn't even from some pattern - it was a fluke long thrown that got headed on.

The players know. They know there should be a left back. They know there should be a left footed crosser of the ball. They could all pick and direct a better team.

Eventhough we won I' still angry and I'm a reasonable very balanced non reactionary person. If someone tries and fails then I don't mind but with Southgate I can't understand what he's trying to do. Also everyone can see the formation and tactics is not working but incredibly he makes no changes. Thought waiting until the 91st minute to bring on Toney was a slap in the face. Surely a manager should be reviewing the player performances, formation and tactics for each game, learning from mistakes and making adjustments but incredibly GS is not learning anything, he keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over. We lost to Croatia and Italy because we say back too deep inviting pressure and our substitutions were too late. Agasint Slovakia once we went 2-1 up we (AGAIN) sat back deep inviting pressure and yet again failed to make relevant substitutions based on what's happening on the pitch. It's totally bizarre how bad Southgate is, makes you wonder if he's doing it deliberately.

It doesnt really matter if they get through playing rubbish, its just a hateful, unenjoyable process.

if they were grinding out results Mourinho style this question would make sense - but that's not what's going on, it's 11 guys wandering around the pitch looking dazed and confused, mostly at walking pace

England fans seem to have short memories. Pre-Southgate, England's record in major tournaments was poor. Southgate's record in tournaments is much better than previous managers. The idea that he should be sacked in the middle of a tournament, thereby disrupting team cohesion and solidarity, is ridiculous.

Come on! Wharton is sat there like a lemon. Saying Southgate doesn’t have an option to do the dirty work and distribute…

When we switched to 2 up front we played our best football of the tournament, then after 15 minutes southgate went back to one up front and we were awful again. The formation just doesn't work, I can't believe he's used the same system 4 games in a row.

Gareth Adolf Osama Southgate is trolling the entire nation.

Jack Pitt-Brooke's summary of the English tactics was gold. Love it.

the knives are sharper than ever, I feel the journalist were kind of disappointed Southgate was saved 😂

To be honest it’s a massive NO. Doesn’t matter anymore just bloody win the thang

Uff the Portugal-EM-Win should England actually give hope xD

Jack starting the video in the ‘watching/thinking/talking about it england’ pose.

Hey J P-B, You mentioned all the shortcomings of the midfielders alongside and that there is not a player who is cool in possession but also provides a defensive cover. The exact player in the squad that fits the bill is Wharton. His only appearance for England could hardly have gone better and he seems mature enough to handle the pressure

No! It's the individual performance of each player... One can see who the problem is... So after this tournament y'all should just fire him and get an elite manager in... Tuchel will be a good choice for England....

The main issue is that, despite the win, there's this feeling that this level will not be enough against Spain/Germany so, despite the amazing end to the game, it feels like it just delayed the inevitable. Now if England plays like that in the final and comes away with a winning goal from their only shot on target, absolutely nobody would care that it was a "poor performance".

You left out the tactic of a player rolling a free kick to a teamate who is looking up at the sky 😂

Inherent in the question - when people say this - is the idea that England had it under control. Nop. They were 60 seconds from going out and had no ideas - saves by a unique bit of brilliance which you can never depend upon even from the most brilliant players

Ultimately the answer is no. But you were very lucky not to be knocked out anyway

The last time i heard this amount of focus on a single positional weakness was when Gareth Barry left cm role was bigged up in the 2010 world cup. England dont have build up play. It is very off to have no system for a team with this quality of player up front and in the middle.

An old school back 4, could be the trick. Guehi at LB, Maguire at LCB? And maybe Rice to just protect them?

Picking only 1 LB which is injured and not played since Feb is absolutely a school boy error. There is no excuse and you cannot defend that

It depends what you get out of it, and how much and how long what you've seen lingers with you. No one who's a fan is upset about the win. The joy of the last minute wonder goal and winner is enough to make whatever's gone before irrelevant to some people, but not others. Dwelling on the performance even if the result is good could be a complaint about what you've been put through emotionally, or concern about the direction of future games.

Most fans dont really care about the style of play as long as its winning or winning enough. One thing about Southgate though is that he's not really a lucky manager. His reign has brought him constant criticism. Even semi finals and finals have not really brought him that much relief from the constant criticisms he gets.

England is a fascinating team. So talented and so tortured. Fascinating to watch for a neutral.

Yes, because it's a tournament. There is only so much mental and physical resilience a team has.

Not like it's gonna happen but it'll be interesting to see if England win the Euro and how the media would immediately do a 180

Love the pod, could someone ask Ayo not to hum in agreement during answers though? Makes it tough to hear the full points being made

The sign of a good manager is building a system around what players are available and suit them.... NOT force square pegs into triangle holes because its the only way you know... Win the whole tournament and you still got to go its awful.

The question has to be asked with this many elite players, if Southgate is now truly the problem. In previous tournaments I think he could’ve been pardoned, but this might be the new golden generation and he is bottling it. Bear in mind England fans we could have had Ralf Ragnick as manager…

They're talking about not having a midfielder who is good with and without the ball and they have Wharton on the bench and no mention. It's head-slappingly fecking annoying.

I think it has become apparent why Ben White said no.

Jack says he has sympathy for southgate as he doesn't have the players to play the standard of football we expect, then proceeds to name the players he's missing... all players Southgates left at home...😆 Southgate not forseeing Luke Shaw being a risk and not taking any back up left back is beyond reckless.

Same questions remain for French squad as England has been playing like France 😮

At this point one must wonder whether Gareth can be arsed about this whole tournament. How can you keep playing the same team if everyone is under performing? It's ridiculous tbh

Where did they get 6minutes injury time from

As an Arsenal fan, I don’t want Saka to play at LB, but unfortunately as a RW, he’s our best LB in the team by far. I think we should have a three at the back system with walker, stones and Guehi. Saka has to hold the width and provide crosses with that incredible left foot. All the lWs we have are god awful. The best solution is probably Eze at LW, who tends to within the half space so it works out well. Rice and Mainoo should just start together with either Bellingham at No.10. Foden should play RW. I would’ve have started Foden considering the tournament so far, both him and palmer have been shocking, but he hasn’t had a chance to play his preferred position. Kane up top or tbh I would rather have Watkins or Toney. Kane should honestly be benched. All in all, a 3-5-2 in the attacking transition is beautiful!

Jacob loves the Toon, man.

insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Southgate is insane this front 4 can't work 0 balance 0 understanding 0 communication take Kane and Foden out get Gordon and Watkins on and watch the team run forward

Jack mate. England have loads of players in all areas to play a myriad of systems.

It's so stupid to say that Southgate hasn't got the resources. He could have taken Chilwell if he was so concerned about left-back. He could have taken Rashford if he is missing him now. What sort of manager is he if even after 8 years in-charge he doesn't know what players he wants & what style of football he wants to play? That's just so extremely stupid!

Why would we want to maximise the chance of losing by playing badly? The point here isn't that it's boring to watch, it's just that England are close to losing every 5mins against lowly rated opposition...

That level of performance & winning is not sustainable for England, as the quality of opponents just gets better.

Im irish so arsed about england, im just worried ineos wont hurry up and announce ten hag's new deal. Anyone but Southgate. ive spoken out against ten hag but id have him all day over southgate. hurry up. the idea of that man walking into our club, looks unlikely obviously but the fear is still there

England have Wharton as a left sided midfielder. What has been the point in taking him. Is this another Erikson Walcott scenario. Difference is Wharton has been playing impressively in the Prem. Why not play him ?

Have a right footer providing width on the left and a left footer providing width on the right 🤦‍♂️ Saka can at least cross the ball with his right foot, which is more than trippier can on his left. Obviously teams play with opposite footed wingers, but then the full back bombs on outside so teams have to defend against it. Opponents can just stay central as no threat down the flank. Easy solution is 343 with Saka left wing back and trippier right, then foden right forward, Bellingham left so they can both drive inside. But thinking about it overall, has Southgate always been utter dross and relied on set pieces to score? Now no Maguire, no set piece goals it's showing up more, and exacerbated by actually having talented players. But I think Southgate just looks at them as penalty takers and nothing more

For me it does. It's an entertainment business. I think that the time Greece defended their way to the title made the euros shit.

Life jacket in a tub until it gets wavy and then there is panic. I think the question that should be asked: Do England just want a trophy come what may or do they want their team to play slick football come what may? I'm sure most would say both. Right now, Southgate is playing Mourinho football, but he doesn't have the charisma to go with it. The whole situation is a real mess.

Bro what happened to Tyreck Mitchell, why didn’t we bring an acc LB with us?

It matters to me, i dont watch football just so i can say "my team won" i watch football for an exciting 90 mins of entertainment , winning is all part of it, but ultimately football is beautiful game.... Southgate ball is definitely not beautiful

Bellingham is complaining about the criticism of the team, not of himself. And when he talks about the “rubbish” they’ve been hearing he’s speaking about the press, not the fans. How do these guys not realize this? Not saying that it’s undeserved because the press should be much harsher than they have been so far tbh

The player's body language shows that they have given up on Southgate and his tactical ignorance

This is literally the meme Southgate told Bellingham to bike it into the net... hes too good

I feel like some journalists and pundits have so bought in to this narrative of exceptional English toxicity that they'll happily go along with Southgate's incredibly questionable logic just to avoid looking responsible for feeding into the press' apparent siege of the national team's collective psyche. Jack's all over this here. We don't have a Phillips-style player? Why did we bring Wharton along? As a mascot? And Gordon is very evidently akin to a young Sterling or Rashford. Gareth's anxiety has infected the squad and ultimately he undermines an eight year overhaul of English football. As evidenced by the youngest graduates and the age group teams, England players are taught to play a certain way now and they do play with a real fearlessness and postivity in the England shirt. It's just that once they reach the terminus of all that, the men's team, they're greeted by a philosophy that's so jarringly out of sync with what they know. Southgate can obviously be applauded for the culture change and setting us in the right direction, but otherwise he simply hasn't kept pace with the rest of the system behind him and isn't the right guy to steer the ship as that begins to bear fruit. We aren't producing players suited to this static, reactive football any more and that's a good thing.

6:44 Jack please ask Garath what on Earth is going on?! He CAN'T change nothing AGAIN! He just can't!!!!!! We can't go through this again!

Toney went on in case it went to penalties. Weird choice 1-0 down but ye

Didn't even watch the video cause the answer is obvious to me. When they go against a team that will manage to break their defence they'll get knocked around with no answer. And in the words of the 12th Doctor. "Nobody wins for long"

Of course it does! Playing s###e is not sustainable to win a tournament

Saying England don’t have the players to play fluid football is an absolute joke

Just win a bloody trophy and then you can focus on style!

Yes, it does matter. Because luck will only get them so far.

If England win somehow all else will be forgotten for a lot of people,not all but a whole lot of people. Thing is England are not going to win, given the current circumstances.

As a West Ham fan I find it hilarious that England playing moyesball is a big issue,yet all season we were told to shut up and to be "careful what you wish for ' Fking hypocritical

Gomez should have played surly

Mm.. injury time against the.mighty Slovakia. Swiss are probably creaming themselves

Portugal won euros after drawing all 3 group games. Spain won world cup after losing first group game. Spain won trophies cup 1-0 most games. Why is everyone so f-ing miserable.

England has not been enjoyable to watch. I would however love a decent surface for them to play on...

When the lose 4-0 or 5-0 it will matter

I agree that Bellingham is not playing great on this tournament, but all his critics seems to not notice how many times he is in a good position, between the lines, and he doesn't receive the ball. In the first half of the last game defenders passed the ball to the side constantly even though they could have make pass to Jude being not covered. One of his greatest strenghts is ability to loose marking even though every defender in the world knows how dangerous he is. I have no idea why England is not making use of this. They have players in every position capable to make that kind of pass, and yet they choose to play the ball to the nearest defennder. "I think the idea that he is hammered by the critics is fairly ridicoulus" - Jack, maybe you should look at the comment section of your own Athletic article about Bellingham performance after the group stage

3:43 Delusional take

Mainoo has excellent OTB understanding - he's just played under two coaches with variably coherent tactical setups. His appreciation of space and tracking of nearby runs are already strong. To characterise Gallagher - who broadly fits that typical headless try-hard profile of an English CM - as somehow better 'off the ball' is bizarre. Aren't the athletic supposed to be a higher-end sports publication and sports analysis e-broadcaster

IT DOESN'T MATTER AT ALL. The critics are awash with watching man city, arsenal, madrid play. this is a tournament, what matters is results and moving on. England are playing very well for a tournament, but not good for league football, which most critics here want to compare with. GET REAL. SOUTHGATE FOR FOR PRESIDENT.

Rice was poor because he has no consistent midfield. It literally changes every game!

YES. Obviously it does because relying on individual brilliance/moments is NOT sustainable. Simple.

Did I hear “Rice was poor”? Have you checked his stats? Were we watching the same game?😂 given the system, I thought he did okay and was covering for other poor performances left right and centre.

Bellingham is the problem I see. Not only is he incredibly unlikable (moaning at his teammates constantly, egotistical, narcissistic, etc) he literally just wonders everywhere and that might just work for Real Madrid which pretty much thrive off that but you have system players and other players around them that just don't work with that. Tactically its painful to watch. He's lucky he scored that goal because honestly he's been the worst player on the pitch for the whole group stage and even before that to me (despite being the poster boy) and that even stretches back to Real Madrid's Champions League run. His PR is in overdrive as well & god damn has he changed from the humble guy to a complete degenerate. Not saying there also isn't many other issues with England but that's one glaringly easy one for me. Guy is clearly a talented footballer but in this England side I feel like your gonna have to make some big choices soon. Id start by going for Foden over him. Playing proper players in their positions (LB at LB and LW on LW). Also this nonsense about not being able to play entertaining football is tiresome. If u want to play high pressing, intensity direct football its definitely possible. Look at Germany, Austria and Spain. Get the proper players and don't be scared to make calls. He made some big ones (Grealish but even as a Manchester City fan, I don't think that was hard at all) but so far he's played it very safe on the starting 11. Use set pieces as much as possible (used to be a thing but they've made nothing and the delivery from players has been diabolical from free kicks and corners). Id figure out ways to get Trent and the best out of players like maybe have a few systems you can employ in gamestates. Make subs n stuff change things up (if Bellingham is on the bench or Trent bring them on when ur chasing the game or any of the other talented players). His loyalty to players and lack of subs is infuriating with England having arguably the best depth and talent in the world. Its been the same monotonous shite for years. I literally cannot watch it anymore and he's gone regardless as the guys say but I'd hate the narrative if he somehow got to the final again. England didn't deserve to get our of the groups let alone as far as this!

I don‘t think that England team respects the saying that football is the „beautiful game“….😢

It appears you want England to play well and lose again. Yet another glorious defeat! I’m okay with England playing poorly and winning the tournament. You ask any ex-pro they don’t give a sh*t about playing well in the big games so long as they win 🏆

Your title is asking a question that never happens, England never win tournaments so asking if it matters how they play is redundant..They are certainly not going to win this tournament our record away from Wembley when we meet top 10 ranked teams in the knockout stages is atrocious 13 matches 13 losses..No we will get knocked out against Switzerland or in the semi finals

No. If England change the way they play and they win then great. If they win playing the way they have done so far, it is the death of football.

Sympathizing with Southgate over a "lack of resources" - honestly man, disgusting. Like.... just lol.

englands luck will run out against swiss

Ridiculously poor, should be coming home. Yet another game like this the Swiss will absolutely batter us.

I'm probably in the minority, but in my opinion. No, it doesn't matter.

No, football is about winning. Look at Man Uniteds FA Cup wins last year, awful performances up until the final 👍

If England somehow win Euro 2024 it will be worse than when Greece won it. Absolute dross

Yes, because when they play good teams, they won't win. This dogshit is only good enough to get you past the fodder. This tourney will be the 4th time that's been true