Having had a couple of days to digest Sunday night's disappointment, I suppose I've got to write about England's defeat to Spain in the Final of Euro 2024. Having experienced plenty of disappointment already (v. Serbia, v. Denmark, v. Slovenia, v. Slovakia and pretty much every match prior to this tournament), it doesn't come as a huge surprise to be left disappointed again. But this feeling is far more than disappointment, perhaps due to the prolonged torment having not been eliminated v. Slovakia.
Pre-match
Going into the game, Spain were clearly the favourites. They'd been by far the best team in the tournament (albeit thanks to an Englishman ignoring a blatant handball v. Germany) and in Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal, they had arguably the tournament's 2 shining lights. The likes of Marc Cucarella had found a level that contrasted to his clownlike performances seen for Chelsea - Spain somehow finding a player that the Premier League club had been unable to.
This was in contrast to England who had lucked out so far but had shown signs of improvement against Switzerland and the Netherlands. Key players Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka (despite moments of brilliance) had underperformed so far (more on this later) and we all know they could reach significantly higher levels.
England had one day less than Spain to prepare with Southgate insisting that due to fatigue, more time would be spent preparing in meetings than on the pitch - good news and surely he'd see that playing a front 3 of Kane, Bellingham and Foden - 3 players who don't run in behind would be a terrible decision. The likes of Ollie Watkins, Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka all far better suited to hurting the Spanish high line - similar to the danger that Musiala and Wirtz posed in their Quarter-Final.
Spain are an opponent that England can beat - assuming you don't play to their strengths and try to defend.
Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal needed to be stopped and I had confidence that we had the players to do this.
For a change, I think it’ll be quite an open game and both teams are capable of scoring. But tactically, I think Trippier’s experience will be crucial against Yamal (as well as Yamal cutting inside to Tripper’s good side) and Walker’s pace up against Williams. If we can cut them out of the game, the trophy will be ours.
My only concern is if Spain play a high line. Kane will struggle with that but it should allow Bellingham and Foden plenty of opportunity to run behind. And hopefully Saka too. Plenty for an England fan to be excited about.
1st Half
Managers often talk about things that teams practise in training - often talking about Attack v Defence and the 1st Half was exactly this. Whereas I'd expected Trippier to be tasked with keeping Yamal quiet, Luke Shaw came in at Left Back as England's only change and he was a vey busy boy.
The only other surprise was England reverting to 4-2-3-1 which had seen such terrible performances in the group stage and against Slovakia - with Jude Bellingham dumped out on the left wing to accommodate Foden in the 10. With Anthony Gordon's ability as a Left Winger and incredible Work Rate - similar to the failure to drop Kane, Southgate also refused to drop an underperforming Bellingham.
Spain (as expected) were keen to get their wingers involved, Shaw was up to the challenge and Yamal was unable to beat the full back. "Keep him outside" I kept saying and Shaw obliged - winning every single tackle against the young winger.
On the other side, Williams had a bit more space but Saka and Walker doubled-up well, also keeping Williams quiet.
It was exactly like I'd hoped - keep the wingers quiet and we could win this.
In possession though, we were absolute dog shit. Unable to cope with Spain's high press, we could barely string 2 passes together and no sooner had we won the ball, we'd hoof it up to Berlin's recently installed statue of Harry Kane which unsurprisingly, resulted in more defending for England.
Despite this, thanks mainly to the aforementioned marshalling of Williams and Yamal, we never looked like conceding. And on the occasion where we did beat the press, Saka and the overlapping Walker looked like a promising source of goals - if not for the consistently terrible final pass.
0-0 at Half Time and an opportunity for the boys to have a 15 minute power nap.
2nd Half
Things instantly went wrong. Southgate had put England into far too deep a-sleep and the mantra of "Keep Yamal on his Right" had momentarily been forgotten. Luke Shaw was caught upfield and whilst I'm screaming at Guehi to show Yamal outside, he drops to deep and Yamal cuts to his left foot. Fuck. My mind instantly reminisces of the time (the good version of) Cristiano Ronaldo isolated Graeme Murty - the only time in 90 minutes that we hadn't doubled up - he cuts inside and scores...
Against the best players, you can't sleep and Yamal's proving to be one of the best. After cutting inside, he looks up and finds Nico Williams with space to run into. The 2 players of the tournament combining and Williams finished the move beautifully to make it 1-0.
Disappointment doesn't cut it. Disaster. We'd offered nothing from an attacking sense. We couldn't keep the ball. We couldn't create and we were 1-0 down.
On 60 minutes, Southgate made the change that he should have made pre-match - Ollie Watkins was brought on for The Statue and England instantly looked a better team. Spain's defenders were being turned towards their own goal and we started to get a foothold in the game.
Who's who? Harry Kane's 13 touches in 61 minutes v. Cole Palmer's 13 in 17 mins
Southgate seemingly emboldened by this change made another positive move - Cole Palmer (another player fans have been crying out to start) comes on for Kobbie Mainoo and our 15 minutes of football culminated in that man doing what he always does - coming in from the right and hitting it first time to find the bottom corner. 1-1.
"Get at 'em" I'm screaming. I'm confident and get another beer from the fridge...
They’re giving us space now. This is ours… (source)
But we didn't. With Bellingham and Rice sitting far too deep, Spain started to get control of possession again and Cucarella found space on the left - Saka too slow to see the danger and Walker too slow to get out. Cucarella hits a first time cross into a dangerous area. Mikel Oyarzabal - a substitute himself - has snuck in between Stones and Guehi, Pickford has no chance and he finished brilliantly.
"Offside" I say confidently. He must be.
I wasn't worried. It's only a matter of time before VAR disallow it.
But they didn't.
Oyarzabal's Size 13 boots not quite big enough to repair English hearts.
With only moments to go, just as the Dutch had known in their Semi-Final, we knew that was it. No desperate attempts to attack would be enough and as the final whistle blew, all I could do was shout "Wankers" at the telly, neck the rest of my beer and go to bed.
Tactical Analysis - Why Spain Beat Us
I've enjoyed FourFourTwo's analysis throughout this tournament so if this is something you're interested in too, I recommend a watch.
Either Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham are the absolute wrong kinds of player to be playing behind Harry Kane or... Harry Kane is the absolute wrong kind of centre forward to be playing in front of them.
We can all see it. Why can't Southgate?
The Anger
Gareth Southgate has revealed that England captain Harry Kane was battling injury and fatigue during the Euro 2024 campaign. (Source)
He wasn't alone.
It was widely reported on Thursday that Jude Bellingham may need an operation.
Luke Shaw hadn't started a match since 18th February and played 90 minutes against a pacey 17 year old.
8 of England's squad started every single match.
Anthony Gordon played 2 minutes.
Jarrod Bowen played 37 minutes.
Ivan Toney played 45 minutes.
Ollie Watkins played 62 minutes.
We took a squad of 26 players and we flogged them beyond what they were physically capable of.
The Fear
In our 7 matches at this European Championship, at no point did the 11 players on the pitch look like they knew what they were doing.
Half of the team were asked to play roles that were unfamiliar to them.
Most of the team were asked to play a style off football that was unfamiliar to them.
The FA want Southgate to stay.
He can't stay.
He mustn't stay.
He's going to stay isn't he?
UPDATE: He’s gone
Highlights
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