Is the Criticism of the England Football Team Fair?
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England have reached the quarterfinals of the 2024 European Championship yet the depression surrounding the team makes it feel like they were eliminated in the group stage.
There was nothing pretty about the 2-1 win over Slovakia in the round of 16. England were 1-0 down until the fifth minute of added time at the end of the match and a moment of brilliance from Jude Bellingham saved the day. It took just a minute of extra time for England to score their second goal and progress to the quarterfinals.
There is no disputing the fact England played poorly against Slovakia and the statistics do not lie. England had only 2 shots on target in 120 minutes of football and the first of those shots came in the 95th minute.
For a team including Harry Kane, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, and Jude Bellingham, that is not good enough. England could get punished against the better teams in the latter stages of the competition if they produce the same performance.
England had plenty of possession with 63% of the ball against Slovakia but the passing was slow and often backwards.
However, England find themselves in the quarterfinals and if they were told they would be meeting Switzerland as opposed to France, Germany, Spain, and Portugal for a place in the semi-finals, they would have happily accepted it.
England have scored only 2 goals inside 90 minutes in 4 matches during Euro 2024. That is not a stat to be proud of and there is no doubt they will need to improve the attacking side of their game to win the competition.
Despite the criticism of the attacking play, England have a good defensive record and the goal they conceded against Slovakia was only the second time Jordan Pickford has picked the ball out of his net. Switzerland, on the other hand, have kept only one clean sheet in 4 matches, so that statistic comes out in favour of the Three Lions.
Only Spain, Belgium, and France have a superior defensive record to England and that is ahead of the game between the Belgians and the French.
So, it may be time for the fans to accept that this is the way England are going to play for the remainder of the tournament. Forget about free flowing football, with fast, energetic buildup play.
England are going to be methodical, keep the ball, stay strong at the back, and count on a moment of brilliance from a star player to win the game.
Switzerland will be organised and carry more of an attacking threat than any of the previous teams England have faced in the competition.
That could lead to an even more defensive approach from Gareth Southgate, especially with the suspension of Marc Guéhi in central defence.
However, if you can keep a clean sheet it takes only one goal to win a game. If England take home the trophy playing that way, the fans will soon forget about the style of play.
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