Gareth is doing a bit of head scratching
World Cup
Gareth Southgate was appointed as England senior manager in 2016. England reached the 2018 World Cup semi-final after knockout wins against both Columbia and Sweden. England went ahead against Croatia in the semi-final after a fantastic free-kick from Kieran Trippier. Croatia came from behind to force extra-time and England’s World Cup run was over after losing 2-1. As disappointing as it was to lose a World Cup semi-final they also lost the third place play-off game against Belgium. My opinion is that the third place play-off game at a World Cup should be scrapped.
Euro 2020
The 2020 UEFA European Championship’s was delayed until 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic. England were drawn against Scotland, Czech Republic and Croatia for Euro 2020 group-stages. They started with a one nil win against Croatia then followed it up with a disappointing scoreless draw against Scotland. England qualified as group winners after a one nil win against Czech Republic. Raheem Sterling scored two goals in the Euro 2020 group-stage games but no goals for 2018 World Cup Golden Boot Winner Harry Kane.
Knockout games
England laid down a statement of intent after beating Germany 2-0 in the last 16 of Euro 2020. Harry Kane finally scored his first goal of Euro 2020 against Germany. England gained momentum at Euro 2020 after a four nil win against Ukraine in the quarter-final. England played every game at Wembley in Euro 2020 bar for their quarter-final
Game against Ukraine in Rome.
Semi-final
England were drawn against Denmark in the semi-final of Euro 2020. England went behind on 30 minutes after Mikkel Damsgaard put Denmark one nil up. The lead didn’t last long for Denmark as England equalised through an own goal on 39 minutes. The match ended in a draw which resulted in it going into extra-time. England were awarded a penalty in extra-time and Kane dispatched from the spot which fired the home side into a lead. England held on and reached the Euro 2020 final after a 2-1 win against Denmark in extra-time.
Final
England only conceded one goal in their run to the Euro 2020 final. The Euro 2020 final was England’s biggest game since the 1966 World Cup win. It was great to see an attendance of 60,000 for this game considering crowds were missed for the majority of 2020/2021 Premier League season. England went ahead against Italy in the Euro 2020 final after a fantastic goal from Luke Shaw. England missed opportunities to score a second goal in the first half as they went into half-time one nil up. Italy were the better team in the second half and equalised thanks to a goal from Leonardo Bonucci.
Penalties
The score line stayed a draw throughout extra-time which resulted in the game going to penalties. Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho all missed penalties for England in the shoot out. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was outstanding in the shoot out as Italy won 3-2 on penalties. The amount of abuse that Saka received for missing a penalty was disgraceful.
Hangover
England struggled after the 2020 Euro final as they were relegated from their UEFA Nations League group. Their final two games before the 2022 World Cup were a defeat to Italy and a 3-3 draw against Germany. A lot of questions regarding England before the World Cup especially with Sterling & Harry Maguire out of form and bringing Kyle Walker with still recovering from an injury. Delighted to see both Saka and Jude Bellingham perform brillantly in England’s big opening World Cup win against Iran. The big question was if they were able to back up their performance against Iran with a win against USA. Their performance was terrible with USA and didn’t look like scoring in a disappointing scoreless draw against USA.
Disappointment
Manchester City and English attacking player Phil Foden was not brought on against USA which was disgraceful. Foden has plenty of experience in playing against a low block with Man City. Foden has been in great form this season which included scoring a hat-trick against Manchester United. Jack Grealish was brought on before Foden and why do you bring the Man City star if he is not able to come on and change the game. England missed an opportunity as they would have been qualified for the last 16 with a win against USA. Trent Alexander-Arnold was also brought to the World Cup and his remarkable Crossfield balls could of also been a difference against USA. England will qualify but will not do anything at this World Cup if Southgate remains to leave his young stars on the bench.
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