The Three Lions were outplayed by Spain in Berlin's showpiece event, which felt like a definitive end point for the manager
So there we have it, another gut-wrenching near miss for football's perennial under-achievers to add to their highlight reel. Spain are European champions, and deservedly so, while England are once again left pondering what might have been.
Much of the pre-Euro 2024 final talk centred around victory being 'written in the stars' for the Three Lions, who arrived in Berlin riding a wave of remarkable good fortune. Two brilliant last-gasp goals, a penalty shootout, and one of the worst VAR decisions of all time helped keep an entire nation's hopes of ending 58 years of hurt alive, with the dull standard of football being played reduced to an afterthought.
But England's luck ran out at the Olympiastadion. They couldn't grind out the win that mattered most as Spain put on a masterclass in fluidity and ruthlessness. "I’m devastated for everyone," Gareth Southgate toldafter the 2-1 defeat. "We have just fallen a little short."
That short sentence more or less sums up Southgate's entire eight-year tenure in charge. The 53-year-old deserves a lot of credit for transforming England into genuine silverware contenders, but he wasn't the right man to take the final step. After a four-week emotional rollercoaster in Germany, it's clear a new direction is needed, and Southgate has done the right thing in walking away now while his dignity is still firmly intact.
Getty ImagesClear gulf in class
In the end, football did sort of go home. Mikel Oyarzabal's 86th-minute strike gave Spain their fourth European Championship title – putting them above Germany as the most successful team in the tournament's history. The notion that England had a divine right to the Henri Delaunay Trophy felt more ludicrous with each passing minute, as the gulf in quality between the two teams became clear, and the only disappointment for Spain will be the fact they didn't win by a far more comprehensive scoreline.
Yes, England did a fine job of stifling Luis de la Fuente's side in the first half, but they offered very little threat in the final third themselves. It was another example of Southgate's apparent reluctance to take the game to the opposition, with discipline prioritised above creative expression.
Southgate may even have felt the stars were aligning when Spain lost star midfielder Rodri to injury at the interval, but that illusion of comfort was quickly stripped away. Athletic Club winger Nico Williams burst into life upon the restart, and fired La Roja in front with a superb first-time finish after being teed up perfectly by his history-making partner Lamine Yamal, who celebrated his first day as a 17-year-old in some style.
Spain took full control thereafter, and only some wasteful finishing prevented them from running away with the game. However, as had been the case in all six of their previous games, England dug deep, while Southgate was actually proactive with his substitutions for a change, introducing Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer in a bid to turn the tide.
Just as they did in the semi-final win against the Netherlands, both men gave England a much-needed injection of pace and guile, with Palmer making the decisive impact this time around, firing in a superb long-range equaliser after a clever Jude Bellingham assist. Spain were shell-shocked, and the Three Lions should have gone for the jugular. But as we are all well aware of by now, Southgate just isn't built that way.
AdvertisementGettyPotential unfulfilled
No one could begrudge Spain the winning goal when it eventually came, with substitute Oyarzabal expertly steering a Marc Cucurella cross past Jordan Pickford in the England net after some more slack defending from Kyle Walker. Unlike three years ago against Italy at Wembley, this defeat didn't come down to fine margins; England were simply beaten by a far better team.
That's not to say that Spain have more talent at their disposal, though. Harry Kane, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham were arguably the best players in the Bundesliga, Premier League and La Liga, respectively, last season. Southgate could also call on Arsenal's talismanic winger Bukayo Saka and new-found set-piece expert Declan Rice, with Palmer, Watkins, Ivan Toney and Anthony Gordon waiting in the wings among the substitutes.
Spain don't have that kind of attacking depth, nor do any of the other nations that competed at the tournament. But England didn't make the most of their advantage. Those players didn't do what they do week in, week out for their clubs, and Southgate has to take a lot of the blame for that.
The manager's cautious mentality rubs off on the squad, and his lack of tactical nous inspires confusion. England didn't have any clear patterns of play, and instead relied on individual moments to reach a second successive Euros final.
The Three Lions finished up 10th in the expected goals (xG) table, and before the final, they were in the same position for shots on target. Southgate didn't maximise the potential of the group, plain and simple. He's instilled a real team spirit, which had been lacking for decades, but he didn't know how to turn England into winners.
GettyThe Kane problem
Many of England's household names were guilty of underperforming in Germany, but none more so than Kane. Although the Bayern Munich striker did somehow win a share of the Golden Boot with three goals, he was the weakest link for the Three Lions, failing to lead the press, hold the ball up or indeed have any real involvement in general play.
When Kane made way for Watkins on the hour-mark against Spain, most supporters would have reacted with a huge sigh of relief. “Physically it has been tough for him," Southgate admitted after the game. "He came into the tournament short on games and has not quite reached the level we all would have hoped."
But why did he start the final if he wasn't fit? And all of England's previous matches? Watkins, Toney and Palmer all showed far more in cameo appearances than Kane had across 545 minutes in Germany, but the captain still got the nod, which is unforgivable.
Southgate's blind loyalty to Kane held England back. It's not the first time the manager stuck with one of his favourites despite overwhelming clamour for a change, either. Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling, Kalvin Phillips and Harry Maguire also enjoyed a similar standing in the squad at previous tournaments, with Southgate always stressing the need for "continuity".
It's entirely possible that Kane's powers are on the wane as he rapidly approaches his 31st birthday. But if Southgate had stayed on, the former Tottenham star would be practically guaranteed another starring role at the World Cup in North America in two years' time. Starting for England has to be a merit-based privilege, and for that reason above all others, Southgate needed to step away before a fifth major tournament.
Getty 'Never-ending story'
Euro 2024 will go down as another massive missed opportunity. Southgate has the second-best win percentage of any England boss since Sir Alf Ramsey, and he's the only man to ever reach two major finals, but he once again benefitted from a favourable draw in Germany.
Spain beat the likes of Italy, Croatia, Germany and France en route to the Berlin showpiece, while England edged past Serbia, Slovakia and one of the worst Netherlands teams in recent history. When they finally came up against a world-class outfit, the Three Lions were all too easily tamed.
It was the same story at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, where Croatia and France, respectively, outclassed England in the latter stages. In the Euro 2020 final they were at least a match for Italy in the quality stakes, but the Azzurri's superior mental strength proved to be the difference.
“It is incredibly tough for players, for England fans, for us because it feels like a never-ending story where we just can’t get over the line,” former Three Lions and Manchester United defender Gary Neville said on .
Supporters won't put up with another tournament like this one; England's run was more agonising and exasperating than enjoyable. Some of the abuse Southgate has faced over the past month has been inexcusable, but it would have only gotten worse if he had stubbornly clung onto his post.