Gareth Southgate

[Scooter]

I can live with that , we lost to a far better team , simple as that .

I don't feel hard done by or frustrated because the best team won and dominated the majority of the game .

Some of our bigger names probably aren't as good at this level as they are portrayed and it showed tonight .

Well done Spain , worthy winners with some outstanding young players .

That’s exactly how I feel

[ncRover]

Here they go, the pundits who achieved not even finals nor semis at international level offering their "insight".  Shearer/Murphy being by far the worst

"I'm tired of hearing that Southgate should get more from these players. I watched a team with Gerrard, Scholes, Lampard, Beckham, Rooney, Terry, Ashley Cole, and Owen get absolutely nowhere near the heights of Southgate's team.".....well said

What England teams have done in the past is completely irrelevant.

This attitude is why we never win anything.

Meanwhile Spain win their FOURTH euros.

[Draytonian III]

Need to get rid of Southgate. Far too negative and completely risk averse.
Should have had players with pace and drive on the pitch.

And replace him with who, and why this person
? Don’t forget he’s got the 2nd best record by any England manager

[DonnyBazR0ver]

We were too slack and sloppy, particularly Bellingham, Saka and Kane. At 1-1 having got back into the game, we lost concentration when we should have pushed on by making silly mistakes in possession.

On this occasion, I won't lay blame for Gareth not making changes, we just didn't get sufficient quality from our so called 'quality' players. Only Palmer showed the quality needed. Foden was starved of possession and we failed to play to Watkins strength.

[Scooter]

Oh well. Now that’s over - Rovers at Stamford on Tuesday! You Reds!

[sedwardsdrfc]

Question marks have to be raised about Kanes continued selection. It’s painfully obvious he was detrimental to the team.

I get good teams can scrape through when playing poorly but it shouldn’t be our aim to play like that. Seems we defaulted to that and didn’t do enough to address it despite having the players

[tommy toes]

Despite my ranting tonight it’ll quickly be forgotten.
The Rovers are the only team I really care about.
Come on Rovers !!

[Alan Southstand]

We went out with a whimper. They played us off the park and they’ve done that to every team they’ve faced.

We looked leggy the whole way through and our best players were defenders. Luke Shaw did one hell of a job on Yamal.

The midfield, though, was dysfunctional all night. Mainoo hardly touched the ball and Rice gave the ball to a Spaniard more than an English player!

Did Kane and Foden actually play? Very poor.

Spain, by a country mile, the best team in the competition.

[SydneyRover]

Yep, no complaints Spain were better.

[tommy toes]

We went out with a whimper. They played us off the park and they’ve done that to every team they’ve faced.

We looked leggy the whole way through and our best players were defenders. Luke Shaw did one hell of a job on Yamal.

The midfield, though, was dysfunctional all night. Mainoo hardly touched the ball and Rice gave the ball to a Spaniard more than an English player!

Did Kane and Foden actually play? Very poor.

Spain, by a country mile, the best team in the competition.

We had players on the bench, like Bowen  and Gordon who could have hurt them with their pace, but no Southgate persevered with Kane and Foden, who’ve been awful all the way through.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

We went out with a whimper. They played us off the park and they’ve done that to every team they’ve faced.

We looked leggy the whole way through and our best players were defenders. Luke Shaw did one hell of a job on Yamal.

The midfield, though, was dysfunctional all night. Mainoo hardly touched the ball and Rice gave the ball to a Spaniard more than an English player!

Did Kane and Foden actually play? Very poor.

Spain, by a country mile, the best team in the competition.

I think that's fair. Our defence for the most part did well but like you say our midfield didn't function well enough, failing to get Foden in those pockets. Kane was very poor. Bellingham and others lost possession too easily, often taking too many touches. After we equalised we got very ragged from back to front.

[grayx]

Best team won but you dont win tournaments playing an unfit, ineffective centre forward just because hes your captain. He was awful the whole tournament.

[NickDRFC]

We went out with a whimper. They played us off the park and they’ve done that to every team they’ve faced.

We looked leggy the whole way through and our best players were defenders. Luke Shaw did one hell of a job on Yamal.

The midfield, though, was dysfunctional all night. Mainoo hardly touched the ball and Rice gave the ball to a Spaniard more than an English player!

Did Kane and Foden actually play? Very poor.

Spain, by a country mile, the best team in the competition.

What’s your issue then? The best team were the…best team against us. Shocker.

It’s a shame we couldn’t do more but this is entirely how we’ve got through the tournament. Relied on individual moments to take us through. We got one again,  it sadly wasn’t enough.

[Goole Rover]

I’m so surprised that nobody has identified the culprit of our defeat, WALKER. Lack of concentration and out of position. Please don’t blame Southgate. Previous posts state that they were the better team all that we’ve had on here is that Southgate had the best squad for years.

[NickDRFC]

I’m so surprised that nobody has identified the culprit of our defeat, WALKER. Lack of concentration and out of position. Please don’t blame Southgate. Previous posts state that they were the better team all that we’ve had on here is that Southgate had the best squad for years.

No, don’t blame Southgate. How could you have your love in if anyone did that?

[ncRover]

We went out with a whimper. They played us off the park and they’ve done that to every team they’ve faced.

We looked leggy the whole way through and our best players were defenders. Luke Shaw did one hell of a job on Yamal.

The midfield, though, was dysfunctional all night. Mainoo hardly touched the ball and Rice gave the ball to a Spaniard more than an English player!

Did Kane and Foden actually play? Very poor.

Spain, by a country mile, the best team in the competition.

We had players on the bench, like Bowen  and Gordon who could have hurt them with their pace, but no Southgate persevered with Kane and Foden, who’ve been awful all the way through.

And Alexander-Arnold on the bench, one of the best attacking right backs in world football.

[ncRover]

I’m so surprised that nobody has identified the culprit of our defeat, WALKER. Lack of concentration and out of position. Please don’t blame Southgate. Previous posts state that they were the better team all that we’ve had on here is that Southgate had the best squad for years.

Another player Southgate continues to pick despite having better options available.

[mushRTID]

Don’t mind losing to the better team.
But football is surely about seizing the moment.
Once we’d scored we had a little window to put them on the back foot and go and make history.

But we retreated and invited them onto us the Southgate way. Just like Croatia. Just like Italy.

We aren’t ever going to win anything with him in charge and although it was great to get to the final, we’ve been decent for two halves of football in my opinion.

Really disappointing to not go for it after scoring.

[Thorney]

We went out with a whimper. They played us off the park and they’ve done that to every team they’ve faced.

We looked leggy the whole way through and our best players were defenders. Luke Shaw did one hell of a job on Yamal.

The midfield, though, was dysfunctional all night. Mainoo hardly touched the ball and Rice gave the ball to a Spaniard more than an English player!

Did Kane and Foden actually play? Very poor.

Spain, by a country mile, the best team in the competition.

We had players on the bench, like Bowen  and Gordon who could have hurt them with their pace, but no Southgate persevered with Kane and Foden, who’ve been awful all the way through.

Sorry tommy, but persevered with kane? He was hooked after 60mins.

And if you doubt he should of started. Then yes he should of absolutley start kane.
Kane is the best goalscorer in europe. You just need to find a way to utilise that. Kane will hit 30+ goals next season because he will have a midfield and wingers behind him who will provide him with the chances.

If kane wore a spanish shirt tonight, he would have had 2 or more goals with players like yemal and willams abd olmo

[Drover]

I can live with that , we lost to a far better team , simple as that .

I don't feel hard done by or frustrated because the best team won and dominated the majority of the game .

Some of our bigger names probably aren't as good at this level as they are portrayed and it showed tonight .

Well done Spain , worthy winners with some outstanding young players .

That’s exactly how I feel

Me too,and they beat us playing football,close game and still in it right upto last 6 mins,the referee was good and fair,no cheating like Italy game where the ref let the Italians foul us all match,even to the point where they played hangman with Saka,I will sleep soundly tonight,whereas I was angry and bitter with Italy game for days.Bring on the season.

[Bentley Bullet]

Ah well, to achieve back-to-back Euro finals is something to be proud of.

Now, let's go and win the World Cup in 2026.

[StocksArmy]

I think Southgate has reached the minimum (again) of what should have been expected of the quality of his squad in a competition given the route we have had to the final. Anybody who denies that would argue that black is blue. In his tenure he has had the easiest route to the final in every competition he’s been involved in. Not saying that any game is easy when you get to a knockout but, if you could choose it yourself you would choose not to meet any of the nations that have won something. Other than beating Germany, we have been beaten every time we have been up against a team who you would consider a tough team to beat. Tactically against Croatia and Italy once going 1-0 up I believe we managed the games p!ss poor and ultimately lost the game on the back of that. In the game against Germany at Wembley I thought despite looking vulnerable to concede, we kept the foot on the peddle and got the win. World Cup against France I thought by a country mile we were the better team. Robbed again by the ref in the first half and Kane missing the penalty we have seen England knocked out that way many times. Tonight I believe we have a group that are better than Spain and I’m confident that if we are brave and take the game to them like we dis against France, we will beat them but, we have to start scoring when we are on top because they will find gaps in us there is no doubt.

Suggesting something that has never been achieved in the history of English football is the minimum expectation is absolute shite

He’s been beaten every single time we have stepped up to a standard that should beat us. You argue against that. Means you are a moron.

[StocksArmy]

Here is what happened….. we were beaten by the better manager yet again. Soon as we scored they changed what they were doing and we sh!t ourselves because Southgate couldn’t get to grips with what was happening. We go 2-1 down and we start finding pockets again. Southgate got his arse handed to him and nobody will tell me different. A world class team very poorly managed.

[Padge_DRFC]

We went out with a whimper. They played us off the park and they’ve done that to every team they’ve faced.

We looked leggy the whole way through and our best players were defenders. Luke Shaw did one hell of a job on Yamal.

The midfield, though, was dysfunctional all night. Mainoo hardly touched the ball and Rice gave the ball to a Spaniard more than an English player!

Did Kane and Foden actually play? Very poor.

Spain, by a country mile, the best team in the competition.

We had players on the bench, like Bowen  and Gordon who could have hurt them with their pace, but no Southgate persevered with Kane and Foden, who’ve been awful all the way through.

And Alexander-Arnold on the bench, one of the best attacking right backs in world football.

Agreed. TAA doesn't play because he can't defend. Neither can Walker. Career is over when he loses a yard of pace as that has saved him over the years. Most overrated player I know. So is Rice too.

[In the box]

England never built momentum of results and left it too late for the players to get into a winning frame of mind.

[normal rules]

Did I hear it right in Southgate’s post match interview where he said that Kane wasn’t fully tournament ready? And yet he plays him?
I would have had Pickford as captain for the Euro. And Kane on the bench as an impact player. The subs were better than kane. And they proved it.
Kane should be finished as England captain. Yet I fear he won’t be.

[steve@dcfd]

Gareth will get the blame as manager his tactics are questionable.
The pundits all said Foden must play inside 0 goals 0 assists in 7 games. He wouldn’t get in the Spain side. Kane should not have been playing I said it before was ridiculed on here slow ponderous. Saka last night was not good enough. Mainoo did not compete with Spains  midfield Rice poor all Euros again not a patch on Spanish midfield players. Bellingham ran his blood to water.. Walker left the right side twice and they scored. Overall we were beat by a better side. With players who don’t really play for the top sides in Spain. Our players overrated by the pundits and supporters.
So I believe Gareth will leave the role.  So we will see how we can improve. But the public and press have to realise these players are not the super stars they are made out and none would get in Spain side maybe John Stones

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Overall, we did well to get to the final really, getting away with sub standard football for the most part, punctuated with 'moments' that papered over the cracks.

It looked like a League Two team on a cup run who showed some pluckiness to get to the next rounds. Except, alot of those players are on relatively huge salaries .compared to their superior opponents.

Spain have been consistently good throughout and deserved to win by a mile. We went into the tournament poorly prepared as we were terrible in warm up games, not knowing what was our best team or formation. It's a familiar story over many, many years. Gareth has probably been better at giving young talent the opportunities and made something of the huge resources available to him at St George's Park BUT, we are still woefully short at structuring a team style/formation and in-game management.

Back to the drawing board.

[Lesonthewest]

Here they go, the pundits who achieved not even finals nor semis at international level offering their "insight".  Shearer/Murphy being by far the worst

"I'm tired of hearing that Southgate should get more from these players. I watched a team with Gerrard, Scholes, Lampard, Beckham, Rooney, Terry, Ashley Cole, and Owen get absolutely nowhere near the heights of Southgate's team.".....well said

What England teams have done in the past is completely irrelevant.

This attitude is why we never win anything.

Meanwhile Spain win their FOURTH euros.

Spot on

[Goole Rover]

Gareth will get the blame as manager his tactics are questionable.
The pundits all said Foden must play inside 0 goals 0 assists in 7 games. He wouldn’t get in the Spain side. Kane should not have been playing I said it before was ridiculed on here slow ponderous. Saka last night was not good enough. Mainoo did not compete with Spains  midfield Rice poor all Euros again not a patch on Spanish midfield players. Bellingham ran his blood to water.. Walker left the right side twice and they scored. Overall we were beat by a better side. With players who don’t really play for the top sides in Spain. Our players overrated by the pundits and supporters.
So I believe Gareth will leave the role.  So we will see how we can improve. But the public and press have to realise these players are not the super stars they are made out and none would get in Spain side maybe John Stones

Your last sentence encapsulates the truth, we’ve kidded ourselves.