I thought Pickford constantly booting the ball back into Spanish possession was a brilliant tactic. Plus leaving Kane on for 60-plus minutes, contributing nothing= Brilliant. How did we not win?
@@jimbojimbo6873 Nah. No instructions are given to him for the sort. He will pass to Rice or Manioo if he's confident and will not pass to them if he's not.
i'd say the 2008 Spain - that was the last team who were as exciting and as capable of playing in more than one way. They also had a fairly low amount of Real & Barca players at the time (Ramos was still @ Sevilla, Villa @ Valencia) and an unsung midfielder as their most important player
It would have been an absolute travesty if England had won the final. They played miserable football and floundered their way to the final via several highly controversial referee/VAR calls. like the 6mm offside against Denmark that saw England somehow winning their group thus ending up in the easier half, or the highly controversial penalty in the semi-final. Besides from that, England played well about 30-40 minutes in total throughout the whole tournament. Most of that time with Kane on the bench. Spain on the other hand had played fast paced direct football with high press all tournament. Long gone are the days of the boring tiki-taka style. A well deserved win where they beat all the big teams on their way to the final.
What about Spain’s deliberate red card to beat Germany and that missed handball call against cucarella? I mean I’m not really partial to either, but we got so much hate for England when Spain got lucky as well
@@alexanderbinkert181 the main point is England has played poorly and barely got by. They have played horribly throughout the tournament. Spain has been the best team in the tournament hands down. Slovakia played a better brand of football than England
@@alexanderbinkert181a player was offside anyways. Plus what can a player do in that situation? He was tucking his arm in not extending it. And tactical fouls are part of the game. He missed the semis? What you want the refs to do. Plus Kroos should’ve had several yellows early on so he wouldn’t have made that foul that gave him the yellow card
Play players who are fit and ready to go or at least rotate more. Kane and Bellingham looked knackered all tournament. Foden didn't convince. would of like to see Gordon play more
Palmer, Gordon, Watkins, Toney; so many choices, none taken. I especially think Toney was underused. Unlike Kane, who looked like a twig you could tear off with a sneeze for most of the Euros, Toney had that strong physicality that could hold up enemy defense and bring other players into the attack. Both goals in the Slovakia game came from Toney physically dominating the ball in the enemy box.
England only got to the final because they were at the better side of the draw. If they had met Portugal, Germany or France they would have been fucked.
@@saucerar7615I don't think they brought on Zubimendi cos they thought he's better. Zubimendi was brought on, because he plays the same role very differently. De La Fuente was taking a risk and at the end it paid off.
Much like Odegaard, Saka and White. Have Palmer, Saka and White on the right. And for god’s sake play Gordon. I am converted to this bright new future post-Southgate
Southgate won't start them even if it kills him. He saw Walker get completely cooked by Williams and Cucurella on the right wing and still didn't sub him off, resulting in both goals being directly because of his complete lack of vision and marking ability.
You just have to wonder why Foden was made as the guy you build your team around. All set pieces were taken by him, not Rice or Saka who delivered for Arsenal (most scoring set piece team this season). We had Jude at LW and Saka at RWB to accommodate Foden, for what? Who is your talisman? Who is your captain? We didn’t even build a system to get the best out him; it seems like Southgate only watches the Premier League… in Kane’s best scoring season he had RUNNERS outside him, we all know he likes to drop deep… Tuchel built a system to get the best out of Kane, just like Conte did before him. It’s just blows my mind the series of errors he’s made building a world class squad. World class.
Because Southgate isnt a very good manager he relies on individual brilliance to bail him out, for him its not about building a system its just put on the best players defend and hope for the best😂
The same thing they should have done for the whole tournament, be aggressive, play a more free flowing attacking game, be creative, and let the kids play.
We can't because we don't have the footballing intelligence or ball control / passing technical ability. Its a complete fabrication of reality that we think we can play better than we did
Spurs fan here, so I'm a abit biased towards defending Kane. He did look injured or fatigued, however lets not forget the quality he has. I'd argue, we did not see the expected quality from Bellingham (besides the overhead kick), Saka or Foden (he did try but it was nothing like he is for City). I think the issue Southgate has, is he tried to play all the big boys and fell into the trap each of our past managers have fell into. Play the players needed for your system, and play the system which suits your squad best. If we weren't going to play wingers like Gordon, then just play two up top and play Trent to get the crosses in. Kane did not get many chances in the box (when he was in the box) and players like Saka were isolated all tournament. Frustrating. Anyways, onto the next one! hopefully we learnt something and can improve.
@@russellward4624 It's a case of a player looking better due to the system he's in, and not vice versa. Rodri's probably the only player in Man City with the adaptability to play out of that system and be a liquid player who can fit in just about anywhere. Every other Man City regulars I've seen this tournament have been painfully mid. They all look like headless chickens without that coordinator in the midfield. Hell arguably England's worst player on the pitch, Kyle Walker, is probably the peak example of a system player. His only job is to run fast and he looks completely out of ideas when told to deal with lateral passing and zonal marking. Both times Spain scored, it was Kyle Walker who was just missing on the wing and giving Williams/Cucurella an acre of space, and like clockwork, both times it was a sideways pass to the wing that catches him off guard, then he miserably scrambles to tackle and fails.
Starting with Kane in a Final when he was obviously not right is a sackable offence on its own. Southgate talks about glory and doing something special , but in order to do that you have to be brave and make difficult decisions.
Same thing as Croatia 2018, Italy 2021. Southgate never learned because he is fundamentally a conservative, small-minded manager who cannot handle top talents or play brave football.
You cant win against a possession side like Spain when your goalkeeper keeps giving them the ball. Nearly every England player plays for a club that builds up from the back, they're even playing a system that requires you to build up from the back but some genius thought it would be a good idea to use a goalie that cant go short and is absolute shite going long.
I agree. The thing is there isn't anything wrong with playing direct/going long. But you need to have an intense press to try and win the ball or get second balls. England hit it long and then sit in their block. It'll never work against the best teams at international level
@@Rybo4 Pickford hits it long to nobody, he never hits our players. Ramsdale has much better kicking he's only behind Raya because Raya is like an outfield with his feet. Raya , Premier League golden gloves winner was on the bench for Spain...
The thing is no england player apart of taa is the player with the most passes for their team. stones and guehi aren´t that great. rice is better moving into space then passing so is bellingham. Mainoo isn´t the passer he is good at getting into space where he can be passed to. Foden and kane are forwards. The problem taking taa in that role are several he plays in a very specific tactical setup which needs time to adapt to, he isn´t good enough in midfield. The player who can build up for england from the back was injured (Maguire), he did it in the last euros. England doesn´t have the midfield to dominate possession. They are good at other things but not dominating posession. It isn´t only pickford.
It was an embarrassing and cowardly display, England have some of the best midfielders in the world and you cant even attempt to control the game? I felt like I was watching Man City vs Burnley.
@@DavidMilesMusic at this level no.. Bellingham didn't influence any game in Any major way.. apart from a few moments. Fodeb had one half against the dutch when he had more space.. but none have shown the ability when under pressure to start dictating the game. We massively over hype our players based on the prem when in reality they just average at this level.. I mean why has no English player for years come even close to being world player of the year when we apparently have the best league with the best players?
I think Pochettino is the best option if we are not looking for an english/british manager (although if he's not english then why not anyone?)... he knows the League, and the players and his system is one that the players already know having played for or against it in the PL. My guess is that he'd play Kane as a 10 because he can't lead the press anymore. I thin we probably need a foreigner for this squad because they will need to implement a system that means players understand why they are in or not in the team - "it's not who is better, but who is better for us" to misquote Alf Ramsey's comment to Jack Charlton when he was first selected.
Harry Kane's big game history 2018 WC semi final: should've scored to make it 2-0 vs Croatia, Southgate decides to be scared and sit deep after HT. 2019 CL final: half fit, never should've started 2021 League Cup final: Pep vs Ryan Mason, enough said. 2021 Euro final: Southgate scared and sits deep again, Kane barely sees the ball 2024 Euros: same as 2021, but Kane looks slow and injured the whole time This dude just has the WORST luck. The only time Kane wasn't stuck with a manager that plays terrorist football, he's so injured he shouldn't even be playing.
I think the failure to beat the Spanish was years in the making. We came into the tournament with no identity or established patterns of play, and then, we just muddled our way through each game.
Yep british footballing culture has no identity of its own as the elite level (premier league) is 95% international. If you look at the championship which is majority English you will see the type of rubbish we believe in.. where as if you go to Spain you will see amature footballers playing in the same style as the national side
Thank goodness England lost. We'd be hearing the England fans and media keep carrying on and climaxing about the EPL. España, muchas gracias. Think the biggest difference between Spain and England isn't the quality of player, but the impetus and initiative. Having the best players is worth nothing if you keep dropping off every time you lose the ball or just pass backwards. Have to have a structure that allows you to want to play forwards, and have ideas in place for when you lose the ball to get it back quickly.
Eddie Howe should be England's next manager. The FA should do all they can to get him in. He is a modern coach with better tactical nous and would have won us the cup.
Don't play the one of the best strikers in Europe? Or drop Foden who had done nothing in an England Jersey and probably never will unless Pep takes over and play a speedy winger to play with Kane, ie. Gordon, Rashford, Sterling... Which has worked in every team he has played in to get the best of him.
@@alzer6467 Kane was the best striker in Europe until the Euros came about, he looked out of his depth from game 1. He clearly either had form or fitness issues; or both.
When you pod premier league games. Can you make it known, it’s the tifo guys. Otherwise, chances are, I’m not clicking. Haven’t watched since you guys moved to this channel and I really enjoyed the old channel
The reason why spain was not pressuring england in the first half is because of how england was play deep and crowding the area ...when spain score thats what make england come out and thats when spain got to look themselves
I can't believe i actually heard JJ say 'there was nothing tactically wrong with how Southgate set the team up'. Did he watch the same match as everyone else. Apart from the first half against the Netherlands Southgate got it tactically wrong all tournament. You don't need to be an experienced pundit or football 'expert' to know that not pressing Spain, letting them have posession right upto the edge of your box, not hassling their centre-halves (who are the weakest point in their team), when you do get posession progressing the ball up the pitch very slowly, taking absolutely no risks with passes to try to attack them before they get into shape and when Pickford has posession instructing him to boot it upfield to a half dead Kane who invariably loses the header and Spain have posession again is tactically awful. We'll never know but I suspect very strongly that a well drilled England team instructed to press high and attack could have beaten this Spain team.
Well team captain should lead by example, and there is no better example of serial finals loser than Harry Kane: he’s lost all of them and more, in pure Spurs legend style. He got so fed up with it that went to Bayern because it was a sure title, having won for 12 years in a row… Guess what? Nothing. Now I wish that City had completed his signing 2 years ago… So, first thing. Stop relying on Kane. Even Portugal won their Euro final without CR7 on the pitch. Secondly, fans need to learn and stop jinxing it with the “it’s coming home” narrative. There is no home. England rich elite got together to create the first football association, but the sport has much older roots elsewhere… So if you keep saying that it’s coming home, that is evidently not England and it is not coming. In more seriousness, England needs a coach that let the players play like they do in their clubs, all of which reach and win national and European titles, or at the very least do well. Everyone on the pitch looked always looked confused. All this said, Spain deserved it. If only for all the teams they had got the better of to reach the final. Well done.
There was a moment in the last friendly against Iceland where Cole Palmer sent in a perfect cross for Kane. Think of the symbolism of that moment. The Captain, one of the older guard can initiate one of the young guns by putting away a perfect pass....and Kane misses! I says it all really. He's a great striker, but he's nowhere near willful, determined or smart enough to lead others.
A minor point in this post mortem, but given how little England capitalised on set pieces it was bonkers Southgate didn’t put Rice on them - even Shaw waltzed into that in the final ahead of him. Nuts!
England don’t have a Rodri equivalent and have never produced one. It’s the same problem every tournament. The fulcrum of the team who controls the game. Spain on the other hand didn’t suffer from Rodris injury and his replacement slotted seamlessly into the team. And for all the praise the England stars get, only Foden from the first XI could receive and turn with the ball in one movement the way more of the Spain team could.
It's not even just about personnel. You don't need Rodri. It's about how you set up the team/mentality. England always default to a chaotic long ball game, despite having technical players in the team. They could keep it short but they don't. Part of it is also the way the premier league is. It can be very direct and in the era of pressing, more teams are comfortable in smashing it long and hoping to get a second ball. So, it's probably in the players psyche and especially difficult to get out of that. Especially when behind in a game, which England have been a lot
Just not play kane. Southgate confirmed post game he wasn't fit, so don't start him, get a player that can hold up the ball and be a threat and bring him on in last 20mins.
English footballers, with few exceptions, are generally numb to the subtler and finer things about the game that can make all the difference. For instance when England equalised last night they had the psychological upper hand but did not take advantage of it. That was the time to try to turn the screw on Spain, up the tempo and try to pressure them in all ways territorial and physical. But no, as always England just sits back when the score is equal and lets their opponents off the hook. It's as though England just wants to draw all the time, it's bloody strange .! 🤨
Harry Kane should have come off at HT, he literally struggled to even jog around the pitch, which gave the Spanish blackline the freedom to dictate the play because we weren't pressing their players giving them control of the game. For the good of the team he should have told Southgate to sub him in the dressing room at HT and bring Watkins on but his ego of wanting to score goals, win the Golden Boot became bigger than a chance of getting a Winners Medal..!! For 60mins it was as if we were playing with 10men...For the Captain of England to put himself 1st shows his own glory means more to him than England winning the European Championships Final...SAD...And let's face it, it was the same against the Dutch and I'd say the whole Tournament he looked miles off it in every game to even gifting a goal away by playing a ludicrous crossfield pass from our own corner flag..!! What was he even doing back there.. KANE needs to take a hard look at himself in the mirror..It's a sad reflection of modern players putting themselves ahead if the good of the team as we didn't start competing in the Final till we had 11 fit players on the pitch after an hour when Watkins came on...😢
Iordanescu, the manager of Romania should be praised and recognized for his work. Finished both qualification group and Euro group on 1st place (above teams like Switzerland or Belgium) with the least valuable team at the EUROs (check stats). Give that team to Southgate and we will all have a laugh.
Instead of who? Foden, premier league player of the year who ripped up the semi final Bellingham, best player in the world this year and the man of moments you want in knockout tournaments Saka, ripped up the semi, potential goalscorer at any time Such a hindsight hero
@RMo16 Foden did absolutely nothing for the whole tournament bar a combined 40 minutes in 2 games. 0 chances created against Holland by the way. Foden hype and the desire to shoehorn him into this team at the expense of having a speedy winger for Kane and balance to the team has cost England and that's Southgate's fault. The eye catching aesthetics of Foden has completely fooled people into thinking he is a creative 10 when he's not. He scores more than he creates.
@@alzer6467Foden isn't a wolf. He's determined yes. Technical yes. But he needs a system around him Palmer is a wolf. Watkins has some wolf in him. Jude a wolf. It's not English culture to let the wolves run wild and show athletic and technical creativity.
people still saying Pickford has "never let England down" after being the worst top flight keeper in the world at controlling his box, a howler vs the Dutch, conceding to Tchouameni from outside the box & conceding to Giroud from his six yard line. terrible two tournaments in a row. get a keeper who can control his area, catch a ball, calm a defence & play out from the back - then we won't have to play defensive football with the best crop of attackers of any country.
Team selection, tactics, formations and finally decisive management. England should have been a 3-4-2-1 with the squad they have, Gareth is confused and ended not doing anything to show faith and belief in his players by setting up positively. He doesn't believe, the team doesn't believe, so that's why it's always "Nearly there."
It was a quarter final to watch. Spain scored first then sat back and defended in depth. Germany equalized in the last gasp minute of the 2nd half. Took the match to extra time. This goal galvanized Spain who stuck in the extra time carrying them through to the semi finals. And now we saw something similar in the final. Spain had a game plan that they executed. What was England's game plan? One also has to factor in that England had the easier draws compared to Spain.
Foden pushing up allowed space in the midfield for Spain to attack which led to their first and Kobbie Mainoo coming off led to their second, Bellingham being moved to defensive midfield made him look like a fish out of water and I don't get the sense in subbing Mainoo rather than him or Saka for Palmer (reason was established player loyalty from GS). After we'd done such a fantastic job of neutralising the Spanish attack throughout the first half. Don't even get me started on why an injured Kane was getting soi many minutes (again established player loyalty). Clearly there is a thin line between player loyalty and sensible tactical decision making
I think everyone is exaggerating England's flaws and Spain's strengths. It was a 1-1 Final with a handful of minutes remaining. England obviously could have played better, but it's not as if they were out of the game with no chance of winning it.
Tribalism gets in the way sometimes when the manager calls on certain players but not others. We have the benefit of watching our own players week in and week out, and the other candidate - we either see them on highlights or when they play our team. I think the manager needs to define a play style and roles for his team and pick the best players to suit those positions. He might not be a superstar or not the most in form, but don't just put big names in there just to appease fans. Do it because there will be star players you want to platform and other supporting casts who will boost these profiles.
Have a manager brave enough to make impactful changes before the match begins. Kane and Foden had no business being starters after Watkins and Palmer proved themselves to simply be in better form. Also Walker is a liability, he's a system player who has zero adaptability and knows nothing outside of running fast. His can't cross, can't link-up and can't mark properly. Both of Spain's goals came from Walker's inability to mark the goalscoring threats coming from the right wing. First, he completely forgets about Nico Williams, giving him an acre of space to run into and score from. Then, he forgets about Cucurella and let's him get his cross out to create the assist. Both times Spain scored, it was a sideways pass to the wing that catches him off guard, then he miserably scrambles to tackle and fails. What you need is a manager brave enough to see these tumours and remove them before it kills the team. Southgate isn't some tactical genius for bringing in Palmer and Watkins and then having them score, they deserved to be on the pitch since the 1st minute.
170% misuse of squad by management and staff. How on earth Palmer had such minutes all tournament. Not sure why the players have been getting so much stick/hype/pressure etc but shouldn’t the players in best form from their respective leagues be on the field. I don’t think any of this is justifiable to the English fans and generational talents. And English media instead of pointing out some of the managing decisions per game they gloss over it and blame Kane? Why blame Kane when you’re not starting Palmer with him and doing things like playing Trent midfield etc…. Not only is that unnecessary hype but added pressure for maybe the best group of talent that COULD have made up/ got into that dressing room. FOSSIL FOOTBALL FROM SO MANY TEAMS THIS EUROS
while I see tactical and possession-based approach in the Euros, the Copa America was different. They played traditional exciting football with thse risky passes. Colombia Aregentina were setup to do the risky passes that Euros did not have
For some reason everyone just thinks of his time at Chelsea and ignores the fact that he did an excellent job with Brighton for multiple seasons before that.
Nico Williams had his own postal code on the left channel the ENTIRE game. I like Kyle Walker, hes been historically very solid, but my god he got EXPOSED by a much younger and more explosive player.
@jsb89 You know, I don't disagree. I legit said to my mates -- "I dont know enough about Southgate's matchday strategy/tactics to know if this is a Southgate issue or a Walker issue, but this is a MASSIVE ISSUE". And I stand by that. It very well may have been a tactical blunder & not explicitly Walkers fault. But MY GOODNESS can we agree that we've never seen a winger with consistently 15-30yds of space between the nearest defender in a major tournament final between two "elite" teams? That's the type of marking error & spacing deficiencies you see in 16U city-league matches
A Spaniard here. Guys... England has a much better team than Spain, no matter how you put it. Rodri is important, yes, but Rice and Bellingham are by no means worse than Ruiz and Olmo. And the front 3 are MUCH better than Spain's. Tired players? Maybe... but I think the manager is the one to blame here
The question is, if England had one of the top 10 managers in the world for the last 8 years, how do you think we’d be playing? Do you think we would have lost 2 finals with someone like Mourinho?
I watched the Rest is Football, the Guardian pod and 2 Athletic takes. Nice balanced opinions. As a newer football fan and American, I found England's play boring, unorganized and not courageous. I learned alot from listening to the pods😁
there is zero chance of Klopp for multiple reasons. he is on sabbatical, he is far too powerful for the FA who want a vassal, and he has no interest in managing in England again. he dislikes the weather, the press, the FA itself and most of the players in the England team. the job is too small for him.
@@indexpictures which of these is fact? And which of these have you just pulled out? What’s a sabbatical? How long does it last? What’s he on sabbatical from… club football? Ofc he could do international management, which is a part time job! And fyi - it’s the only way we can afford Klopp. He’s too powerful?!? How do we know this? How do you know how much control the Liverpool board had over him? He might be okay with it. I dislike the weather, the press and the FA. Wouldn’t stop me from having a go if they called me. Why wouldn’t you want to be that manager who fixed the England national team?
Southgate had 6 prior games in this tournament to create and refine a tactical game plan for this team. He had excellent players at his disposal. But the priority always seemed to be the defensive, and the attack was utterly neglected. Add to that an out-of-form Harry Kane up in front and you get ... this. Spain is a team that's set up to score goals as well as fend off attacks. They aim to score 2-3 goals each game. England only defends, it's left up to the individual moments to produce the odd goal, 1 goal per game.
Am also thinking exactly that, him and his trusted assistant (Tindall) would be perfect and exactly what England need, which is an actual competent coach not some failed championship manager.
@@winterbird4447 There's no way we get Klopp. I don't think we can get Howe unless Newcastle tell him to leave. I think Potter is the most realistic choice. Maybe Pochettino. Who would want to leave a job to manage England?