Gary Neville still believes England can win Euro 2024 as they still have one of the best squads but the pundit fired three jibes at Gareth Southgate following their displays in the opening four games in Germany.
England finished top of their group but failed to convince in any of their three games save for the first 30 minutes against Serbia, and then to prevent them being dumped out of the tournament before Harry Kane struck in extra time to send them through.
Something is happening
The Three Lions face their toughest test so far against Switzerland in the quarter-finals and while Neville admits if England play as they have done they will be roundly beaten, he also believes the boost that their dramatic turnaround against Slovakia will have given them could prove crucial.
I cannot make sense of England, he wrote in The Overlap newsletter. My head says they’re heading home on Saturday, certainly if they perform like they have in the first four games.
And yet my heart says something is happening… A last-minute wonder goal changes the dynamic even if that makes no sense.
If you’ve played badly for four games, the chances are you will do so again. If you hardly created any goalscoring chances, the likelihood is you will fail again in the next match.
So why should Jude Bellingham’s overhead goal make all the difference? Rationally it won’t. England played their worst football of the Gareth Southgate era on Sunday night. Yet emotionally it changes everything.
Let’s be clear, England perform like they did against Slovakia when they play Switzerland on Saturday and they will be well and truly beaten.
Switzerland are a much better side than anyone they have faced, with Serie A, Premier League and Bundesliga winners at the heart of their line up. Crucially they have something England clearly lack, which is a clear system everyone buys into.
So at the moment my heart and head are wrestling with each other. My head tells me performance matters, that eventually you run out of road in a tournament when you’re not creating chances.
MORE EURO 2024 ENGLAND COVERAGE FROM F365
👉
👉
👉