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July 15 – The pain goes on amid intensifying frustration and recrimination. Football once again isn’t coming home, not to England at least. By Andrew Warshaw
Within hours of an entire nation crying into its collective beer – gallons of it – a nationwide forensic examination of England’s demise was under way.
Was it the fault of manager Gareth Southgate that England are still seeking their first major men’s trophy for 58 years? Was it the players’ fault for under-performing on the biggest stage?
This, undoubtedly, was the best chance the country had ever had to finally get over the line and erase over half a century of hurt.
If not now, when? was an understandable question. After all, England were placed in the favourable side of the draw in Germany. As the tournament progressed, it became even more relevant as England, leading a consistently charmed life, benefited from a series of lucky breaks that seemed to have their name written all over the trophy.
And yet it still didn’t come home.
With so many expectations prior to the tournament, much has been made of Southgate’s role, with critics pointing the finger at him for being too inflexible, too conservative, lacking tactical acumen, having no imagination.
It’s a fair argument. To win football matches, you need possession of the ball but England couldn’t break through the lines against Spain. Only occasionally was the tempo raised in the final, all too often reverting to a defensive block. Only occasionally did England pull off threatening transitions of the kind that Spain were so good at.
Resilience and character ultimately proved to be not enough, but England should have had shown so many more qualities. Their movement off the ball was pitifully disappointing, a feature of their performances throughout the tournament and one Southgate has to take partial responsibility for despite on paper having the strongest squad – one that included last season’s best player in England…
Source link : https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2024/07/15/comment-taxi-southgate-theyre-coming-home/
Author : Paul Nicholson
Publish date : 2024-07-15 09:05:04
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