Gary Neville perfectly explains what England teams have never been able to do in 20 years
Ex-Manchester United and England star Gary Neville has urged the Three Lions to solve a two-decade issue at Euro 2024.
Gareth Southgate's men have sealed a spot in the knockout rounds, but have largely underwhelmed in Germany. Despite accumulating four points from their opening two games, their performances have been criticised.
Pundits in particular have torn into England. Neville is among those to have given his say. The ex-Man United defender believes that the current side are suffering from the same issues that England did during his time - an inability to control games.
Speaking on ITV, he said: "We don't want to see these lads make the same mistakes we made. We got pushed back into a low block. We got pushed back into a situation where we couldn't get out, we didn't have the passing solutions to get out from the back.
“We got back into a situation in 27-degree heat where at the end of the games we were looking knackered - looking like these lads in the last two games. We've been there and what this group of players over the last six years have done really well is not get involved and dragged into the weeds.
“They just got dragged into the weeds a little bit the last few days, which is fine, they're entitled to come out and have a go but I would say the reality is they have to try and get control of the football match - that's the most important thing. England teams have never been able to do that in 20 years. We do have technical players here and they're not able to do it still."
England
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England’s struggles continued in the first half of their Group C finale against Slovenia in Cologne. The Three Lions only had two shots on target in the opening period.
Bukayo Saka thought he had given England the lead as he tapped home Phil Foden ’s low cross but was flagged offside. Boss Southgate had attempted to freshen things up ahead of kick-off.
He made a change to his starting line-up as Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold, who played in midfield against Serbia and Denmark, was benched. He was replaced by Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher, who was substituted for Kobbie Mainoo at half-time.
Should England finish top of their group, they will take on one of four of the best-performing third-placed teams. But their identities won’t be known until the group games are concluded on Wednesday.
Should the Three Lions finish in second place in their group, then they will likely get a much harder assignment. They will take on tournament hosts Germany in the round of 16.
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