A Scotland supporter’s point of view: England could win Euro 2020, but they won’t with Gareth Southgate | OneFootball

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·18 June 2021

A Scotland supporter’s point of view: England could win Euro 2020, but they won’t with Gareth Southgate

Article image:A Scotland supporter’s point of view: England could win Euro 2020, but they won’t with Gareth Southgate

It now seems fair to suggest that the opening performance from England against Croatia was a tad overblown by some of the English pundits, but their performance tonight against Scotland has to worry the fans on so many levels.

A lot of the players didn’t have their best game and plenty of touches were going astray, but the biggest concern for the English fans has to be the lack of energy in the midfield and Gareth Southgate’s refusal to change things up.


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If you take the result in total isolation then it’s probably not a disaster – a win against the Czech Republic takes them through at the top of the group, but the boos at the final whistle tell you all you need to know about the feeling from the supporters.

They weren’t happy with the result or the performance, but it does actually feel like they just sat and accepted the draw.

The buildup to the tournament has been the same as usual – pundits incessantly talking about England winning the tournament, but this time there was some legitimacy to that when you look at the talent in that squad.

MORE: ‘Just suit and vibes’ and ‘get rid of Southgate’ – These England fans react to dreary draw against Scotland in major Euros disappointment

The fact that Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish are all on the bench is incredible as they would make a top-class front three on their own, but it appears the problem isn’t the players, it’s the manager.

Gareth Southgate has set his team up in a manner that reflects his personality – forgettable, and it’s impossible to see England going all the way in a tournament if he is unwilling to throw the shackles off and actually attack.

If that game tonight had turned into an end-to-end shootout then England would probably have won, but Scotland were happy to settle for a point and chance their luck with set-pieces, while England just got behind the ball so they could stand and watch some low-tempo passing around the midfield to waste some time.

It looked like Southgate had finally made the right decision to bring on Jack Grealish but he refused to change the shape by taking off Phil Foden, and it meant Scotland were able to stay comfortable and stick to the game plan.

The approach was perfect against Croatia but Scotland aren’t at that level, so there was a real chance to go out and attack tonight that he didn’t take.

In a strange way this performance could be good for England if it acts as a wake-up call and sparks some change from the management team, but I wouldn’t be overly confident about that happening.

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