To feel really gutted for England tonight?

[Acapulco12]

This Euros tournament has been quite a crazy ride for England and it’s a tournament I’d rather forget (partly because of the way that Gareth Southgate and the team have been treated by the British press and their own fans).

I think that whilst the team has loads of fantastic world-class players, they haven’t consistently played well as a team, either in the run-up (e.g. in the Iceland or Bosnia games) or in the tournament itself.

I really feel that the team only managed to get through to the final because of moments of individual brilliance (Jude Bellingham’s goal, Ollie Watkins’ goal, Pickford’s absolutely top-notch goalkeeping).

I’m also quite disappointed with elements of Gareth Southgate’s management even though I still really admire his leadership style, his achievements as England manager and his attitude. Southgate has - undeniably - produced consistently excellent results with this team, but they haven’t yet won anything with him, and ultimately they will be judged on winning. They have got close to winning on two occasions now with him, and he and they obviously care for and respect each other, but I don’t think that’s enough anymore (feels harsh to write that).

I think it’s time for the team to find a new manager and go in a new direction, but equally I think it will take time for a new manager to find their feet with England and I worry that the new manager will not be able to create the same sort of culture that Southgate did, which I think really helped to shape this current team and make them so successful.

I know that there can only be one winner in the Euros - just like in any sports competition - but I just really feel for the England players. I’ve followed them for a few years now, they come across as a really nice team and I feel really sorry that it didn’t work out for them tonight.

Focussing on the final tonight, Spain were clearly the better team tonight - and throughout the Euros. Having said that, I do feel quite sad that the England players couldn’t achieve the win they wanted. They obviously really really wanted to win, and I think the team’s performance has overshadowed the individual achievements and excellence of the England players that I mentioned earlier in the post.

I know there will be many more tournaments to come, probably for most players in the team as most of them are still very young and are full of potential, but they had so much expectation riding on them and they came pretty close to winning, having got to the final.

They should feel really proud of themselves for getting to the final and coming close to winning, but I know that they would rather have won than been runners up.

So?

Should the second place team be executed? Discuss!

The best team won. Spain won all their matches, negotiated a much tougher draw than England and were the best team throughout the tournament. They were deserving winners and if England played them every day until Christmas I think the result would be the same.

I think Southgate will probably resign and I think Kane might need to reconsider his international future.

England winning would've been undeserved. I know its happened and doesn't work like that but Spain have beaten France,Germany etc to get there and not lost or drawn a single game..

Impressive to get there and get to the final but just not enough to get it over the line..

But look on here at the quite aggressive posts about kids in boarding schools. One of my DC had to attend boarding from a young age for a very different reason and it was awful. Culturally (England) - so much commenting about class/boarding.

Yes, I wasn’t advocating it, just wondering if it has anything to do with their success. The former USSR and Eastern bloc countries used methods with children picked out for intensive ballet and gymnastics training etc. and were very successful. I’m sure that the students paid a heavy price, though.

Well they might look a bit more motivated !

Well they might be a bit more motivated !

Exactly!!

I disagree @UtterlyOtterly - they clearly are very resilient. They have to deal with frequent disappointments in their regular club games and then deal with more of the same - but much more intensely - when they play for England. They are obviously resilient enough to manage that, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to show up for the games and play the way they do.

They have been in two finals now under Southgate. Whist that is a fantastic achievement, it’s obviously very disappointing for them, because it’s a reminder of how close they came to winning. That not only requires boatloads of resilience but also - more helpfully - helps to build it, especially in the environment that Southgate has created.

Why has Gary Lineker got to go? He’s a football pundit who is pretty good at his job, so what’s he got to do with anything? Unless you mean he needs to go because of the comments he made about the team (which I also disagreed with)?

I doubt that (I’ve been a long standing Spurs fan). Do you have a link to an article that says that?

Pickford is fabulous. He is amazing for his Premier League team (Everton) and for England. I’m a big fan of his and I hope he stays in the England squad for many years to come.

They came second. Wow. Mind you football bores me. Managed 10 minutes last night. However coming second is amazing surely. Yabu.

Are people saying Novak Djokovic is a rubbish player and needs to quit or change management because he came 2nd yesterday?

I agree - I doubt he’ll be sacked.

But he might question how much more he can give, now he’s been in the role for 8 years and come so agonisingly close to winning so regularly and also following the horrible criticism of him in this year’s Euros.

He’s done an incredible job since he’s started in the role, but not yet won anything, which whilst being a very ambitious aim, is probably his main objective.

I would really like him to stay on in the role though, if he wants to.

It’s not as simple as that though! There are so so many variables to consider around how far a team will get in a tournament. We do have a lot of world class players and we still did well - we just didn’t win. But this has to be taken into context alongside a lot of other factors too.

As an example, France and Germany have lots of world-class players and they didn’t make it as far as England in this Euros. And Spain didn’t shine in the last Euros or previous 2 World Cups either.

I don't think Southgate will resign. I think he's got one more go in him.

Looking at tickets for the World Cup I am 😆 it's in America !

@KnickerlessParsons Uhhhm, well... if Scotland ever made it past the first round, we'd be delighted. I just cannot understand why this is such a tragedy. England have done brilliantly. All this talk about how such a good team should be winning reminds me of one of the Harry Potter books. The Minister for Magic meets the muggle Prime Minister and tries to convince him the world's at risk. The muggle PM retorts that they should be able to fix it since 'you people can do magic.' The M for M gives him a pitying glance and says 'yes, but the other side can do magic too.' Spain are a good team too. Someone has to be runner up. You're right. England's performance should be a cause for celebration.

😅😅 no but they probably need a new manager

Spain deserved to win but England's achievement in getting to the final should be celebrated too. I really dislike the personal criticism levelled at Southgate and some of the players. It seems that the English media and a large section of the fan base aren't very good at being supporters, just armchair critics.

Me too - I completely agree. I often feel like saying to them - if you feel like you could do a better job, why not go for it and apply for the manager’s position 😂😂

I think part of the problem has actually been Gareth Southgate’s success. Because of his success, people generally expect the team to get very far in tournament they’re playing in, whatever happens, which is obviously unrealistic and ridiculous (and then they criticise GS and the team for not achieving that unattainable expectation). He is dealing exceptionally well with the pressure he is under.

It's the way the media go on as if they've won it before they've ever played a match. They're so dismissive about the opposition, whoever that happens to be. It's really off putting! Tbf neither the team nor GS were guilty of this.

100% agree.

I have no view on his tennis ability, but as he is an anti-vaxxer, would be happy to see him out of the public eye.