England are the football team that have forgotten how to play, but also how to lose. It could be a strange combination that takes Gareth Southgate and his team to the Euro 2024 final in Berlin.
When England travelled to Germany, this was where we hoped and perhaps even expected to be with a week of football still to go. Deep in another tournament under Southgate and well placed to justify their position as one of the favourites for this competition.
This, however, was not how we expected them to travel. Under Southgate’s uncertain management, England continue to look like a car on three wheels.
This is England’s worst tournament performance since Euro 2016 in terms of the football they have played. Here against Switzerland they started strongly under Southgate’s new 3-5-2 system, but then faded. For far too many of those 120 minutes in Dusseldorf England played poor football and the record shows that from five 90-minute matches against Iceland, Serbia, Denmark, Slovenia, Slovakia and Switzerland they have won just once.
But England still have a platform to fight for glory and that in itself is something to savour and appreciate. Despite the circumstances, we should be grateful. Moreover, it is surely impossible that another performance from Get Out of Jail here will not give them something to build on and work towards ahead of a semi-final in Dortmund on Wednesday night.
England have so far crashed out of Euro 2024 but are still in the semi-finals
No one can question England’s courage, their football is poor, but for the second game in a row they have scored a late goal – of real quality (Bukayo Saka, right, scores for England)
But if England are to fight for ultimate glory in Berlin next Sunday, they will need to put in a much better performance
No one can doubt England’s courage, that’s for sure. Their football was poor here again, but for the second game in a row they scored a late goal of real quality to save themselves. That’s what big game players can do and England have plenty of them.
Against Slovakia it was Jude Bellingham. This time it was the great Bukayo Saka. When it came to the penalty shootout, five English players held their nerve impeccably to execute it perfectly. They deserve credit for that. It is hard enough to win football games by playing well, but it is something else to do it when you don’t.
That’s pretty much where the good news begins and ends, though. It’s increasingly certain that if England are to go for the ultimate victory in Berlin next Sunday, they’ll have to do so without much help from their manager.
This was Southgate’s 100th game as England manager and he still looks a bit like a manager who is ready for the end of the road. Those of us who have followed his journey from caretaker manager to the man who has taught England players how to stay in major tournaments would argue that he deserves a back-to-back appearance in a European Championship final to cement his legacy and spare him from those who decided they didn’t like him from the start.
This was Gareth Southgate’s (pictured) 100th game as England manager and he still looks a bit like a coach who is ready for the end of the road
England’s manager (left) has had a poor tournament and he should be glad he’s still here
But the unavoidable fact is that Southgate has had as bad a tournament as any of his players. He is lucky to still be here and deep down he knows it.
There was conviction in Southgate’s selection for this match. He knew he had to do something to shake his players out of the stupor that was threatening to suffocate them. A miraculous goal from Bellingham had pulled England out of the wagon in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday and Southgate knew he could not count on another.
There was a silver lining in England for a while. They were better. Saka was excellent from the start and it was a joy to watch the Arsenal player finish the night with a big smile on his boyish face. His penalty will finally erase the memory of the one he missed on that dreadful night at Wembley in the Euro 2020 final. The 22-year-old is one of the bright spots of English football.
With Bellingham and Phil Foden playing closer together behind Harry Kane, England had some purpose and some possession and some forward momentum. But it didn’t last long. The first half came and went without a shot on target and by the time Switzerland took the lead in the 75th minute, Southgate’s side had still not managed to score a single one.
And it was during this period of the game that we saw Southgate sitting on his hands again. Kane had been struggling up front all afternoon. To be fair, the England captain looks heavy and leggy and ready for a sunbed. Incomprehensibly, he stayed put. England also lacked any balance down the left, where the selection of Kieran Trippier robbed them of an outlet. It is, of course, not the Newcastle man’s natural side.
But it wasn’t until Switzerland scored and the exit looked big again that Southgate called on his substitutes. Three arrived belatedly and within seconds of Cole Palmer, Luke Shaw and Eberechi Eze coming onto the pitch, Saka swung his left foot at the ball and watched it whiz across the face of goal and into the net via the far post. By that point, England’s last three tournament shots on target had actually gone in. One here and two against Slovakia.
Saka (pictured) played excellently from the start and it was a pleasure to watch the Arsenal player finish the evening with a big smile.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (pictured) was one of several stars to take a penalty, with the Liverpool star scoring the decisive spot-kick
There has been a certain attraction to the way England has come through and it has been hard to take our eyes off it
England captain Harry Kane (left) remained in the team for the match despite his heavy and muscular appearance.
But can England continue to play so far below their level and still progress? Absolutely
There has been a certain appeal to the way England have stumbled through this competition. It is certainly hard to look away from it, if only because it has been so peculiar. But it is also hard to ignore what we have seen. Towards the end of extra time, England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford wasted time and waited for penalties. Rightly so.
Can this continue? Can England continue to play so far below their level and still progress? Absolutely. We have learned that already. England have looked like a team waiting to be beaten all summer, but the longer they wait to deliver that final blow, the more they will believe that this could finally be their year. Plenty of other big fish have gone home, but England are still swimming.
For years we came home from these tournaments feeling like we had left something on the pitch, that we were somehow destined never to get what we deserved. This time it feels different and maybe it’s just a wave that England should just ride.
Southgate’s team haven’t played a single game well here in Germany and they are now one of four teams left. Imagine what could happen in the next seven days if they finally pull it off. We wait and we hope.