On England At Euro 2024
Did England’s performance against Iceland give you any defensive concerns ahead of the EUROs?
Looking at the squad, the squad is very attack minded. We’ve got some quality players who are capable of opening up the doors. Harry Kane, obviously we know, who can score goals and is one of, if not the best striker in the world. Ollie Watkins has scored a lot of goals this season, so he’s not a bad option to have in the squad.
We’ve got so much quality in every department, but the defence does concern me. We've normally had a steady back four going into major international tournaments, and we’re going into the championship with two centre halves who haven’t played many games next to each other. That paring does worry me, purely because there is a bit of an unknown quality to it.
People have criticised Harry Magurie, but he’s been a big part of England’s success at previous tournaments and his knowledge and experience will be a miss.
I’m not concerned about left back and right back, we know what Luke Shaw brings when he is available and Kieran Trippier is more than capable of providing cover. Kyle Walker, he’s a definite pick for me.
I do worry that Kyle Walker leaves spaces with his attacking runs. We looked a little bit suspect when Iceland were breaking on us in the friendly game – they got in a few times. A lot of teams will be looking to play that way against us in the tournament, so we need to fix those defensive mistakes.
I expect England to dominate the group matches, so we’ll need to be switched-on to teams looking to hit us on the counter.
John Stones will partner Marc Guéhi in central defence. This will be the Crystal Palace man’s first major international tournament. That’s a different level of pressure – how can England prepare him for the tournament?
I think the coaches and Gareth will be telling Marc Guéhi how much they trust him; they’ll be boosting his confidence behind-the-scenes. He hasn’t ever played in games this big before and doesn’t have experience of playing in Europe. He’s been fantastic for Crystal Palace this season, but he is untested at the highest level.
Some players walk into an England squad and hit the ground running. Hopefully that is something that Marc can do.
John Stones is a very important player for England at this tournament. He’s got the experience of playing on the international stage and at the highest level – he’s a winner – and having him next to Guéhi will help him. I do worry about his fitness. We will have to wrap him in cotton wool at this tournament.
Gareth Southgate has made some big decisions with his squad. The eye-catching omissions were Jack Grealish, maybe you could say Marcus Rashford before the 26-man group was announced.
It seems to me that he's gone with players that have very much finished the season in form when you think about Gordon and Eze's inclusion. Were you surprised that he's done that given that he has shown a certain amount of loyalty to players in the past?
A lot of people were surprised that Grealish was cut from the initial squad.
Rashford didn’t even make it into that, but he can’t have any complaints because he’s had a very hit and miss season. Sometimes Rashford looks like a world-beater, sometimes it dosn’t look like his heart is in it.
Grealish is the one that has grabbed all the headlines. Unfortunately, Jack lost his shirt to Doku, who's been brilliant at Man City.
I feel for Jack. I don't think he's a winger; I think he's a midfield player. It’s easy to
criticise Jack Grealish when he plays because he doesn't take anybody on and he hasn't got that pace to go past players, but he’s a very good footballer. On the ball, he’s tidy and rarely gives it away, which is what you need at international level against the best teams.
He’s given Man City tremendous balance on the left when he's played, but he's not a winger and I think he's got to have a long hard think about his future because he needs to be playing week-in, week-out.
De Bruyne’s future at Manchester City is uncertain, so perhaps there is an opportunity for him to play in a more central role for Manchester City. That is where I would like to see him play and that is where I think he would shine. He’s always been a creative midfielder in my eyes. I think he is a player that needs to have a little bit more freedom to express himself, and you could say that he’s lost that under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Unfortunately, Gareth has picked players that are in form, so someone was always going to miss out. Anthony Gordon and Eberechi Eze have been in brilliant form for Newcastle United and Crystal Palace respectively. I think Gareth was right to pick them over Grealish because it’s very hard for a player that isn’t in form to come into a tournament and immediately find those levels.
Waddle explains how Southgate can play Palmer in 10 role
I think England need to find a place for Cole Palmer in the starting eleven. He's a terrific player with fantastic vision and awareness. A lot of people say he doesn’t offer enough of the ball, but that isn’t his game, and you have to play to your strengths as a player. With the talent that England have in midfield, Cole could slot into that number ten role without any problems at all.
He's shown what he can do at Chelsea this season. I’d love to see him given that freedom in Southgate’s England team.
Bellingham has that 10 shirt and position at the moment. I think with his work rate and all-round ability, Jude could easily play a little bit deeper alongside Declan Rice. He’s such a fit guy who can cover so much ground, so play him a bit deeper.
Sometimes you need to be a little bit brave. We have the players and the ability to dominate teams in midfield. When you look at our potential starting eleven, most nations have got one or two players that you would worry about – we’ve got about five or six. I think we could frighten the life out of some teams if we were a little bit bolder with our selections.
I also don’t understand it when people say that Declan Rice can’t handle the defensive responsibility on his own. He has got four defenders behind him – he’s not doing it on his own! Finding that balance in midfield is crucial and, if Bellingham were to partner Rice, he has the physicality and intelligence to provide security if and when its required.
On Cole Palmer
Over the years, England have been guilty of not appreciating a cultured player, certainly not as much as other nations have. A player like Palmer has to be treasured. When you think about the World Cup Final, France vs Argentina, the two players that everyone want to see are Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi. What do those players do out of possession? Not much, but that’s fine, because they are special players who are incredibly gifted individuals. Those players provide the X factor. I believe that a player like Palmer, if you give him the freedom and the platform to express himself has the ability to win a football match on his own. He can give England an X factor.
I think we can be guilty of expecting English footballer to be allrounders and that can take away from a players ability to express themselves. You can give a player like Palmer less defensive responsibilities if he’s scoring and creating goals. People say he’s lazy, but I’d take a lazy player who scores 22 goals and registers 11 assists in 33 Premier League games every single day of the week.
Could you have 11 players like Palmer in the starting line-up? No, but the best football teams have the right balance and England have quality players behind Palmer who can do the defensive side of the game.
If England are going to play Palmer, then let him do what he does best. Don’t play him wide and expect him to protect his full back. Let him create. Let him score.
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Waddle Picks His England Midfield
I would start Eze on the left and Foden on the right. Saka isn’t getting into my preferred midfield. You then play Palmer behind Kane and put Bellingham next to Rice.
Gareth sees thing differently. He will play Bellingham in a more advanced role, Foden on the left and Saka on the right. The one question mark is who he picks to play next to Declan Rice. I really like Kobbie Mainoo, I think he’s a great prospect. I would go with him, but I think Gareth is leaning towards Gallagher.
Teams evolve as tournaments progress. I think things may change as we get deeper into the tournament.
The good news is that most of our midfield options are in terrific form, and then when you add Harry Kane to the mix, who has been outstanding for Bayern Munich, everything bodes well for England with those front six players.
Who do you think is England’s most important player?
Harry Kane is England’s most important player. No doubt about it. He’s an elite level striker, probably the best in the world. He’s so intelligent, and I think sometimes we can be guilty of taking him for granted because we’re so used to him scoring so many goals.
Individually, his numbers compare with any of the best players from over the last five years. People criticise him for his lack of medals, but I think that is incredibly unfair.
He makes up for his lack of pace with his technical ability, hold-up play, vision. His movement is top class. He has a variety to his finishes. He moves people around on the pitch.
if England are going to win it, then Harry Kane will be a big part of that.
What would be your message to this group and Gareth before a ball is kicked?
England have some of the best players in the world. Occasionally, the shirt has been heavy on the international stage, but this group are a little bit different. We need the players to trust their ability and do what they’re good at.
It’s hard to replicate club form on the international stage, but most of these guys know that they can compete with the best – most of them have played on the biggest stages against the very best. Remember how good you are and, if you’re coming into this and playing on this stage for the first time, remember you’re there because you’re good enough to be there.
Go and express yourselves. Go and do what you’ve done all season. If our group of players can replicate their club form, then I’m confident that we have got the talent and the ability to go a very long way.
Stick together. Believe in each other. There is no one we need to be scared of. Come on England!
On Group C
England vs Serbia
Serbia will make things difficult for England. They have a lot of experienced players in that squad and a very talented coach in Dragan Stojković, who I played with at Marseille. Dragan will know that his group of players doesn’t have the quality to go toe-to-toe with England. He'll have a plan, and I expect him to get men behind the ball and play on the counterattack, like most teams.
They’ll be physical. They’ll try to disrupt England’s rhythm. I saw some comments from Dragan who described this match as the toughest opening game they could have had.
It would be silly for England to take them lightly. I saw them in their last game against Sweden, they won 3-0 and looked impressive.
They have some experienced players in that group, people like Aleksandar Mitrović, Nemanja Matić and Dušan Tadić. They also have the Juventus striker Dušan Vlahović, who has been linked with a few Premier League clubs and is a handful.
My worry is the forwards. It will be a tough test for a relatively new central defensive partnership. I expect them to try and unsettle England early in the game.
Aleksandar Mitrović is coming in off the back of a prolific campaign with 28 goals in 28 league games in Saudi Arabia. He’s a danger who has scored goals wherever he's been.
We should have enough to beat them and I’m confident that we will.
On Denmark
I think Denmark will be a really hard game. Denmark are a fit side, with some talented players. Playing them in the second group game, they will be fresh. We’ve seen them rely on a smaller group of players at previous tournaments and sometimes they have faded as they’ve progressed, so we will be playing them at their best you would think.
Rasmus Højlund has the ability to cause England problems with his pace and strength. I’m expecting that to be a difficult game for us. This is the one game in the group I think we may end up drawing.
On Slovenia
I don't see Slovenia causing England any problems. They are a team that struggles to score goals, but they will want to frustrate us. We should have far too much quality for them, and I think this is a game where England can really enjoy themselves.
I don’t expect this to be the case, but when you’re in a position where you need to win to qualify, there can be nerves. That would be the only scenario where I would worry about playing Slovenia. Hopefully we can go into that final game already comfortably qualified and rest some players before the knock-out stage.
What does success at EURO 2024 look like for Gareth Southgate? What should we be looking to achieve in Germany?
I really hope that we can win it. I think that has to be the aim; that’s what the players need to believe is possible, and I think, when you look at our group of players, there is no reason for us to fear anyone.
Gareth's done a great job. England managers are always going to be criticised. There will always be questions about the starting eleven, the squad.
We’ve got very close (to winning a major tournament) under Gareth. Hopefully lessons have been learned from the 2021 final against Italy, because after taking such an early lead we dropped off and let the Italian’s dominate the ball. Was that part of the tactical plan or was that driven by a fear from the players? We should have been more positive and put that game to bed. Then it goes to a shoot-out, and we all know what happens.
Penalties and England, it’s a difficult relationship. There is always a huge amount of pressure, and I think that will be the case until we will win a major tournament.
I hope we can be more positive at these championships. We've got the ammunition and the players to win it - all of our key attacking players are playing with confidence - let’s see if we can go one step further than the last EUROs.
Whatever happens with England this year do you expect this to be Southgate’s last tournament in charge?
If Gareth Southgate brings that championship home, then the FA will ask him to stay, and I think the public probably will too. He’s been in charge for eight years now, he’s had a good run. This will be his fourth major international tournament, and if we don’t win it, I don’t think it would be unreasonable to try again with someone else in charge.
At previous tournaments, the target was probably getting to the semi-finals. Gareth has raised the bar and has become a victim of his own success. The fans believe that we can win it. We've been knocking on the door for the last few years.
He’s been linked with the Manchester United role and a few other clubs. Perhaps he’s thinking about trying club management again. There is no doubt after what he has done over this eight-year period that there will be some tasty offers for him and his family to consider.
Would he walk away if we won it? I think that would be hard for him. He’ll have his eye on the World Cup in 2026.
Unless he lifts it, then I can’t see him staying on. We should have won it in 2021 – it’s time to deliver and we have the players to do that.
On Euro 2024
Are there any players that you’re looking forward to watching?
Player-wise, I'm looking forward to seeing what Portugal’s Rafael Leão can do on this stage. Is he ready to show the ability that he’s got? He can be inconsistent at times, but, on his day, he’s a player that is really difficult to stop.
He has all the raw attributes to be one of the best players in the world. When he’s on it, he is a guy that you would rank in the top five players in the world.
I think Cole Palmer has the character and the confidence to grab this tournament with both hands if he is given the opportunity to express himself.
Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala are two very exciting players in the Germany squad. They have both had fantastic domestic campaigns, and if Germany get off to a good start against Scotland and find momentum, I can see them terrorising a lot of teams in the tournament.
Spain always seem to come into a major tournament with a young player that everyone is talking about, and this time its Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal. He’s only sixteen. What a story and what a talent. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do.
Then of course, there is Kylian Mbappé. He’s had a bit of a tricky season, there has been a lot of speculation, and he found himself out of the PSG team when everyone at the club realised that he was leaving. Despite all that, he still managed to score 27 goals and was the best player in France again.
Now he has his move to Real Madrid confirmed, will that give him a bit more freedom to express himself? He will be full of confidence and is probably the most dangerous player at the tournament on his day.
With France, because they have so much quality, Mbappé has a bit of a free role, and he will be very difficult to stop.
