Jamie Carragher expressed his disappointment at England’s loss against Spain. The Ex Liverpool star opened up on how the English team failed to overcome incredible Spaniards.
England found themselves slumping to Spain after an 85th-minute winner from Mike Oyazarbal. The goal proceeded after a brilliant display from Palmer to equalize Spain’s early first-half lead. However, after the equalizer, Spain looked sharper and more motivated to find a winner.
The loss had spurred a lot of sadness in the English team. Their skipper Harry Kane who is yet to win a trophy as a player was badly heartbroken. Also, the team in general was strongly dismayed given that the loss was the 2nd time in a row for them.
England vs. Spain Recap
The final of the Euro 2024 kicked off at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Spain started strong, dominating at every nook and cranny of the pitch. However, England’s defense persevered through the pressure.
Allowing them to keep the Spaniards away. England also saw some half chances from the likes of Phil Foden and co in the first half. But Spain also came prepared defensively.
The Second half came with Spain losing out their star man Rodri to injury. But it didn’t stop the La Roja from drawing the first blood. Nico Williams scored from a beautiful Lamine Yamal assist. Spain could have made it two and three but Olmo and Morata were not clinical enough.
Later in the 2nd half, Palmer equalized with a sublime strike near the edge of the box. This gave England some hope. But it was soon dashed as Marc Cucurella’s sublime pass to Oyazarbal, saw the Sociedad forward slot home the winner.
Jamie Carragher’s Post on X
Column on Gareth Southgate future & #ENGSPA
Even though we got to the final #EURO2024 it’s the first tournament under Southgate were we haven’t really delivered on the pitch.
I put that down to the players more than the manager.— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) July 15, 2024
“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 in this tournament. And other tournaments going back years,” Jamie Carragher posted on X after the game.
The post got the attention of some of the supporters to answer by saying:
Luis de la Fuente (Spain’s manager) has a much worse squad but lets his team ball every single game while Southgate can hardly make his team look enjoyable for more than 5 minutes.
Jamie Carragher responded:
International football is not littered with top managers, it’s about the players. Ours froze in that first half, allowing the keeper to go long & not demanding the ball & showing for it.
The fan replied:
Watching the Copa America final Jamie? Another team with a squad 20x worse than England while playing 20x better football. But surely it’s not Southgate’s fault.
Jamie Carragher then replied in a vulgar manner posting:
Shut up you t**, & stop asking me to get other footballers to follow you!
Southgate’s View on the Game
A heartbroken Southgate accepted that Spain was the best team in the Competition. The manager stated:
I think they were the best team in the tournament. We didn’t keep the ball well enough but we were in it until the last. I am devastated for everyone, players have been incredible, and I am so proud. We had a little bit of momentum. Big chance at the end to equalize as well but I’m not sure we did quite enough. Against Spain, you have to keep the ball when you win it back. We were fine defensively in the first half but that takes it out of your legs.
There’s no hiding from we have had a lot of issues. We have managed to deal with most of them but we have fallen short.
Amidst all of this, Carragher posted another tweet on X saying:
I have no relationship at all with Southgate. I feel he has been cautious from the bench throughout his time but in this tournament, the substitutes have been great. There is this idea though that he is holding back an amazing team. Is it any better than 1996/1998/2004??
The back-and-forth between the former England player and the fans has created a stir on social media. Whether anyone agrees to it or not, it has made a place of entertainment for the audience. Meanwhile, there is a lot to learn for England and manager Southgate to prepare for future tournaments.
