{"id":411233,"date":"2024-07-11T01:39:30","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T01:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=411233"},"modified":"2024-07-11T03:06:20","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T03:06:20","slug":"maligned-england-managers-perfect-change-lauded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=411233","title":{"rendered":"Maligned England manager's 'perfect' change lauded"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gareth Southgate has silenced critics \ufefffollowing what he labels as his greatest achievement in his tenure as England<\/a> manager.<\/p>\n

England cemented its spot in the final after defeating the Netherlands 2-1 on Thursday (AEST)<\/a>, with substitute Ollie Watkins emerging as the unlikely hero of the match by scoring a late winner.<\/p>\n

In their third consecutive game, England were forced to recover from a 1-nil deficit after Xavi Simons found the net in the seventh minute.<\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> 'Absolutely disgraceful decision' helps England to final<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'I'll fight anyone': Scott's declaration after Hall maul<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Fuming star kicks own coach out of Wimbledon match<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

England has been among the favourites to go all the way in Germany, with the Three Lions \ufeffset to play back-to-back Euro finals<\/a>. The achievement was inconceivable prior to Southgate's introduction.<\/p>\n

The manager has been criticised for his failure to inject power from his bench into the game \ufeffdespite the immense depth of talent he has awaiting.<\/p>\n

But Southgate's men got their much-anticipated result in what the star manager believes was "the best" performance the side has pulled off.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffIt has to be the best," said Southgate.<\/p>\n

"It's another landmark but we played well throughout the game. It was complicated.<\/p>\n

\"England<\/p>\n

"I thought the quality of their performance was outstanding. The fact that two of the substitutes combined just shows the spirit that they have as a group.<\/p>\n

"They've moulded brilliantly over the last six weeks. None of them have dropped their heads. They've all been ready for their moment when it's come along.<\/p>\n

"For me, it's the mentality of the players who were all ready to deliver and contribute to the whole tournament. That's the bit that pleased me the most."<\/p>\n

The 53-year-old \ufeffmade two changes in the final 15 minutes of the match, including goal scorer Ollie Watkins, who replaced captain Harry Kane.<\/p>\n

"We felt that we needed some more legs \ufeffout the front," Southgate said.<\/p>\n

"Harry (Kane) had taken a knock when we won the penalty in the first half. (We) know that Ollie can press a little better and that he would make those runs that (would be) a problem for defenders early in a game."<\/p>\n

\"Joey<\/p>\n

Former England star Alan Shearer, who has been critical of Southgate's tactics throughout the tournament, said Thursday's late changes were "perfect".<\/p>\n

"At times, yes Gareth Southgate has been criticised," he said on BBC Radio.<\/p>\n

"But in that first half, I thought it was magnificent. It was more like what we wanted – he deserves all the credit."\ufeff<\/p>\n

England fans erupted across Dortmund – despite early altercations prior to the match<\/a> – with fans back at home including the King of England sending their best wishes and praise to the team.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/Daily_Record\/status\/1811143027764703545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/RobBrownBetting\/status\/1811142216385188103?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

The Royal Family released a statement urging the national team to avoid "penalty dramas" and "late wonder goals" in the final, claiming it is causing the nation too much stress.<\/p>\n

"My wife and I join all our family in wishing you the warmest congratulations on reaching the final of the U.E.F.A. European Championship – and in sending our very best wishes for Monday's (AEST) match," King Charles' statement said.<\/p>\n

"If I may encourage you to secure victory before the need for any last minute wonder-goals or another penalties drama, I am sure the stresses on the nation's collective heart rate and blood pressure would be greatly alleviated!<\/p>\n

"Good luck, England."<\/p>\n

Southgate defended the late dramatics of his team before declaring he hopes fans at home are "enjoying a few beers".<\/p>\n

"If you look at the numbers. It was like we were playing away but it wasn't like that with the noise," he said.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/England\/status\/1811142555704389802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeff"These games have been dramatic because the goals have come so late.<\/p>\n

"The only reason I did the job when I took it on was to try and bring success to the nation. And to try improve English football.<\/p>\n

"To be able to take the team to the first final overseas is (something) I'm immensely proud of.<\/p>\n

"We've come here to win. That's what we came for. It's an incredibly tough game [on Monday]. We play the best team in the tournament so far. We have a day less to prepare which is a huge task. But we're here still. We are fighting."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gareth Southgate has silenced critics \ufefffollowing what he labels as his greatest achievement in his tenure as England manager. England cemented its spot in the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":411235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=411233"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":411238,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411233\/revisions\/411238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/411235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=411233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=411233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=411233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}