Gary Lineker has given his verdict on England’s defeat to Spain in the Euro final last night. One of his bugbears was Gareth Southgate, who he thought had been too defensive throughout the tournament, and was even on the verge of a defensive change in the final with England losing:
“Palmer scores that wonderful goal and you think, ‘Right, press on’, but no, we started sitting again. Let’s put it this way, just before the goal was scored, on the sideline coming on were Conor Gallagher and Kieran Trippier. That says it all,” the former striker said in quotes picked up by the Chelsea Chronicle.
“If you’re 2-1 up with four minutes to go, maybe, but what is he thinking there? Is he thinking he’s shoring it up because he’s worried about them.”
The two faces of Gallagher
We’re a little torn on the whole Gallagher situation last night and what he could have done for England. There was a time when we had really lost control of the midfield and his legs and energy could really have helped. But equally if you’re struggling to keep the ball in a game, he’s not the most calm and patient midfield operator to get you back in the game.
The mistake Lineker is perhaps making – quite a common one among fans who know Gallagher is known for his defensive skills more than his attacking – is thinking that bringing him on would necessarily be a defensive change.
While Gallagher’s strengths are in breaking up attacks, as we saw countless times with Chelsea this season that can actually be an offensive strategy. His intense pressing drags your whole team up the pitch and creates turnovers high up with you can turn into chances.
So perhaps bringing him on earlier could have changed the balance of the game before Spain really took control.
1) Conor Gallagher just isn’t good enough to be on the field in a Euro final. 2) Lineker is dead right about Southgate playing too defensively (Peter Schmeichel said it too—England had the talent to have controlled every game they played and, instead, they sat back and let their opponent’s dictate far too often). 3) Cole Palmer’s difference-making performances as a sub just go to show that Southgate got it wrong when he (repeatedly) failed to start him. The Bellingham/Foden experiment never worked and should have been scrapped well before the knockout rounds. In short, Southgate had England playing with one hand tied behind its back and deserves the blame for failing to win the title (rather than credit for merely making the final).