‘Our big players didn’t turn up’
Whilst his fellow pundits might be calling for Gareth Southgate to walk away, Jamie Carragher has leapt to the 53-year-olds defence after England lost their second consecutive Euros final.
A cagey first half performance from both teams saw them head in goalless at half-time but seconds into the restart, Spain broke the deadlock through Nico Williams.
Substitute Cole Palmer equalised after just three minutes of him being introduced by Southgate but England sat back and Spain snatched a late winner.
Southgate has been on the receiving end of criticism all tournament long due to England’s unconvincing performances on their journey to the final.
Many backed off after the Three Lions dramatic victory over The Netherlands in the semi-final and fans had hoped they could build on that momentum but it wasn’t to be and the better team won the trophy.
Carragher took to social media to defend Southgate and slammed the players for their performance instead.
On X, he wrote: “Sven played 442, Fabio was too strict, Gareth is too defensive!
“Funny how it’s always on the manager isn’t it?!! The fact is our big players didn’t turn up this tournament. And other tournaments going back years.”
One user praised Spanish manager Luis de la Fuente saying he had a ‘much worse squad’ and that Southgate ‘can hardly make his team look enjoyable for more than 5 minutes.’
Carragher responded saying international football is not ‘littered with top managers’ and that it’s about the players.
“Ours froze in that first half, allowing the keeper to go long & not demanding the ball & showing for it.”
A post showing England’s expected goals helped to further prove Gallaghers point as it showed England’s xG to be lower than that of Croatia’s who were knocked out in the group stage.
The 46-year-old responded: “Exactly! Big players didn’t turn up!! We had about 60% possession until the final because we played average teams. You blame Southgate for some of the best attacking players in Europe not being able to break average defences down???”
Carragher went on to share an article he’d written following the loss explaining why he shifted the blame from Southgate onto the players. Only time will tell whether we have seen Southgate in the England dug out for the last time.
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