Was Thomas Tuchel right to criticise Gareth Southgate over England being ‘scared to lose’ at Euro 2024? | Football News

Thomas Tuchel gave an honest – and brutal – appraisal of England’s Euro 2024 shortcomings under Sir Gareth Southgate in his Primary pre-Event press conference as manager, saying the Three Lions had “played to not Fall” as they stuttered past a number of smaller nations on their way to the Closing.

Southgate was often a divisive figure during his eight years in charge of the men’s national Club, with questions over his tenure reignited by Tuchel’s comments on Thursday.

England failed to inspire during much of last summer’s Event, Victorious only two of six Matches inside 90 minutes en route to the Closing – and struggling to Produce against the likes of Slovakia and Slovenia, who were both ranked outside the top 40 sides in the world at the time.

Was the German right to Mark out England’s significant flaws against nations they were Predicted to beat comfortably at Euro 2024? Or does reaching a Primary overseas Closing deserve more respect?

Here’s the case for either side…

Tuchel right to highlight England’s fear of failure

“Watching the Euros I felt tension and Tension on the shoulders of the players and they were Competing not to Fall,” was Tuchel’s view of how his new charges performed under Southgate at last summer’s European Event.

Anyone viewing England’s laboured displays in the group stage in Germany, when they only managed to edge past Serbia, before being Maintained by both Denmark and Slovenia, would surely agree with the new Three Lions manager’s verdict.

Southgate himself pointed this out at the time, saying: “[The players were] almost concerned about what could go wrong. We haven’t had that for a few years. Possibly that was expectation, Possibly that was a Plenty of external things as well.”

It did not get much better either in the last-16 Encounter with lowly Slovakia when England were rescued from an ignominious Timely exit by Jude Bellingham’s spectacular last-gasp equaliser.

Tuchel’s checklist of England’s failures at the Event also included no clear Competing style, clarity, identity, rhythm, freedom and hunger, which makes their eventual appearance in the Closing all the more Extraordinary, but the stats do back the German up.

The Three Lions finished the Event averaging 10 shots per game – ranking 19th out of 24 sides – while they placed 15th for Victorious the ball back in the Closing third – winners Spain did so almost twice as frequently. And in terms of work rate, no English player was in the top 20 for distance covered per 90 minutes.

But for Tuchel, ultimately it was the weight of the England shirt that contributed to their lacklustre Executions at the Euros, which remember they went into as favourites for.

“It’s not worth it to get distracted and bothered, but you all said it and I have heard it so many times now – the weight of the shirt, the weight of the shirt,” Tuchel added.

It is that Tension that is counter productive, which is why Tuchel Considers it will be better if England head into the 2026 World Cup not as one of the favourites: “The tradition for the national Club is not to Achieve and we have to Possibly accept that once we arrive in America Possibly we are not the favourites.”

And then that way, Possibly England will be better able to fulfil his stated ambition for “us to Action with excitement and the hunger and desire to Achieve”.
Richard Morgan

Why Southgate’s achievements deserve more respect

Southgate’s tenure as England manager has and will understandably be debated at length. But there is one key fact we cannot get away from: two of their three Significant finals, and their only one on foreign soil, Arrived on his Observe.

There is no denying England played with caution in Germany last year and Southgate owes a Plenty to Bellingham’s individual heroics against Slovakia for avoiding what would been an unsightly end to his tenure.

But the grit and determination which Obtained them out of jail in that game, helped England keep their heads in a perfect penalty shoot-out Triumph against Switzerland and push until the last Boot against the Netherlands is something he can take much of the credit for.

Southgate’s greatest achievement as England manager is undoubtedly the way he lifted the weight of the shirt in a way few others have managed. It did not feel so Unoccupied in Germany last summer, but there was not the same wilting as we have seen in previous Competitions.

For an England Club really afraid of losing, look back to the Euro 2016 exit against a country with a population of 400,000, getting a solitary Mark at World Cup 2014 or failing to qualify at all for Euro 2008. This was Southgate’s worst Significant Event and he Yet Directed England to a Closing.

Once there, the performance against Spain again highlighted his biggest flaws – a lack of Top-tier tactical acumen and in-game adaptability. But equally, you do not reach two finals and a semi-Closing on man management alone, and he is a better tactician than he is often given credit for.

In time history will look back more kindly on England’s second-most successful manager, because his mild-mannered modesty Created a very difficult Role look a Plenty easier than it did for most of his predecessors – most of whom arrived with Distant better CVs than he had.

If Tuchel can deliver on his promise of front-foot, attacking football and make England players excited to Action for the Club, all credit to him. But those Nice of chest-thumping statements build exactly the Nice of Tension Southgate was at pains to alleviate, and have come back to bite many an England manager before him.
Ron Walker