England has impressed nobody so far in the Euros 2024. The Three Lions have massively underperformed in their group-stage matches failing to score more than once in all of them. It’s come to the point that it’s difficult to believe that people thought this England will be the one that brings it home.
But on the contrary, 3 matches into the tournament England has been labelled as the team that makes every match into a snoozefest. Gareth Southgate has been facing more criticism than he ever has up until now as the boss of England. For those who still believe, “Maybe the team isn’t good”. Here’s a fun fact: England’s front four, consisting of Saka, Kane, Foden, and Bellingham had accumulated a combined G/A tally of 165 in just the last season. Yet, under Southgate in the Euros, they’ve scored only two goals, the same as Scotland but thanks to the situation in their group, find themselves topping the group while their Scottish neighbours finished last.
Now in a turn of events, England has renowned hope of advancing far into the Euros in the eyes of football fans. And sadly that’s not because of the kind of football they’re playing. Rather because of the side of the knockout bracket they find themselves on. The Euros 2024 knockout bracket this season is very lopsided due to a few upsets that happened in the group stage. And this has increased the chances of England making the final. The other teams in England’s bracket are Slovakia, Turkey, Austria, Romania, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy. Out of these 7, only the Netherlands and Italy are genuine contenders but neither have been playing good football in this tournament.
England first face Slovakia in the Round of 16. This should be an easy game for the kind of personnel England possess. Then they face the winner between Italy and Switzerland, which will most probably be Italy. Again an easy enough draw for the Englishmen with all the bench strength they have. Following that, in the Semifinals England would probably encounter the Netherlands or Austria who have overperformed in this tournament. While in football anything could happen, on paper England is much better.
Never has the road to the Euros final been this easy for England. All they need to do is grab the opportunity with both hands. Hopefully, Gareth Southgate has seen the light and will make changes to his tactics which makes this immensely talented English squad click together. The introductions of Anthony Gordon, Kobbie Mainoo, and Cole Palmer really turned the tune of the match on its head against Slovenia. Fans would be hoping they get to see these talented youngsters get more minutes to make an impact on the pitch.
Will the Three Lions pounce on the easiest opportunity to a Euros Final berth? Or will they choke and fumble halfway through as they have often done?
