Foot & Soccer Soccer Match Reports, Football News
July 6 – It will be Gareth Southgate’s 100th match as England manager, and it could be his last. England take on Switzerland in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 as underdogs seeking to finally ignite their campaign after a turgid time in Germany so far.
With Marc Guehi suspended at the heart of the English defence, Southgate may switch to a back five though domestic pressure is on him to be more adventurous and switch to a back three.
Ezri Konsa is likely to get a start with Southgate not having shown any faith in Lewis Dunk. Star man Jude Bellingham is available after avoiding a ban for an offensive gesture during the Slovakia match. He likely still needs to scratch that itch of burning criticism that upset him in the first instance.
The narrow escape in the second round has instilled the team with more confidence, so they say, but all of those considerations will be forgotten if the Three Lions do not improve on their woeful performances in the past four matches.
Certainly they should look at their opposition who they play with and against most weeks at club level and wonder why they aren’t the runaway favourites.
This will be England’s fourth quarter-final under Southgate’s stewardship.
“I’m very proud but it is the least important stat of the week,” said Southgate referring to the century milestone. “The only thing that matters is it is a quarter-final and my complete focus is to get my country into another semi-final.”
“I’m sure in years to come I will look back and reflect with great pride. But at the moment it is the last thing on my mind. It is a fact of life,” he said on the talk about his position. “If you are in one of the most high-profile jobs in world football then there will always be speculation, assessment of what’s going on, so I am not worried.”
He added: “When I was a younger manager trying to forge a career you are worried about if the first job doesn’t go well there won’t be another job. So…
Source link : https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2024/07/06/100-games-will-southgates-england-now-stand-deliver/
Author : Paul Nicholson
Publish date : 2024-07-06 11:53:42
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
