Euro 2024 was concluded Sunday night as Spain overcame Gareth Southgate's England 2-1 in Berlin. The best team on the night won, and they were probably the best team over the whole tournament, there can be little complaints from England's point of view.
Reaching a consecutive European final is no mean feat for Southgate and his side, but it seemed England rarely got into motion throughout the competition and the final was a continuation of this matter. The England manager's future is in the balance as his contract is up this summer, with a new deal yet to be agreed, but what went wrong this summer for England and what is it that needs to be done for the World Cup in 2026?
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Squad selection
To find out what may have gone wrong for the Three Lions this summer you have to start five and a half weeks before the final with Southgate announcing his 26-man squad prior to leaving for Germany. Leaving key figures such as Jack Grealish, James Maddison and Harry Maguire at home, while only bringing one natural left-back in Luke Shaw who wasn't able to feature until the quarter-finals. Questions were asked from the off, and there's good reason behind why.
Many outside and within the camp questioned some of the decisions made by Southgate, captain Harry Kane being one of those, who had discussions with his manager on what the plan was for the tournament. Many members of the squad were questioning why certain players weren't taken, this was exaggerated when we found out squads will consist of 26 players rather than the traditional 23.
No one knows the reasons why Grealish and Maddison were absent from the final squad, it may have been down to league form the pair had shown, but after coming on in the first warm-up game against Bosnia and Herzegovina and playing well Grealish thought he would be on the plane.
The Manchester City man has won it all at club level, surely his experience in these types of situations such as knockout football should have been enough to be selected, let alone his undeniable ability and skill set he has to offer.
Harry Maguire was told by Southgate that he wouldn't be fit enough to make the squad after missing the final weeks of Manchester United's season, Southgate couldn't take the risk with Maguire.
This was after the centre-back who has 63 international caps to his name, all under Southgate, insisted he would be fit by the final group game. Maguire took the news well, however, wishing the team well for the tournament and supporting them every step of the way.
This then makes the inclusion of Shaw confusing, added to the fact Shaw was the only player in the squad who can play at left-back naturally. Shaw hadn't featured for his club since February after facing setbacks in his recovery from injury on more than one occasion.
So why take the risk with Shaw, who has no natural backup, but not Maguire? Only Southgate and his staff will know the answer, but this was an area which hurt England in nearly every game. Kieran Trippier is a good right back and has served Southgate and England well, but put him on the left and you get half the player and lose so much more as a team.
Despite this, Southgate was adamant to go this way and did so in every game, until the final.
Not only were the players who Southgate left out able to offer something on the pitch, it is what they gave off that also matters. Maguire, a loud presence and leader within the team, and Grealish - a popular figure with many and one who would be great to have behind the scenes. These were big decisions made by the England manager, ones that must have been difficult.
Having already left out key figures from his pre-tournament squad in Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford, some of the younger members of the team were going to need to step up in their absence. As for on the pitch, the selections that had been made and the absentees who weren't going definitely played a part in how England performed in Germany.
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No structured plan
Throughout the tournament, it was hard to see how Gareth Southgate wanted his team to play. During the group stage we saw the team line up in a 4-3-3, using a right-footed left back in Trippier, a natural number 10 in Phil Foden pushed out to the left, the experiment of Trent Alexander-Arnold in Midfield. Then Jude Bellingham played the highest of a three-man midfield after being used as almost a false nine all season with Real Madrid.
The first game against Serbia had a good start but from 30 minutes onwards the team looked sluggish and lacked ideas. The Alexander-Arnold experiment lasted 70 minutes and you could see with the Liverpool man that the team was unbalanced.
Southgate stayed loyal to his starters in the opening game and didn't make any changes against Denmark. Alexander-Arnold was this time subbed off 10 minutes into the second half, and it was clear to see the team lacked energy and any idea of how to press.
Harry Kane himself came out in an interview after this game saying he and his teammates were confused about who and how to press together, words you don't want to hear as a fan.
The final group game saw a stalemate with Slovenia as England limped their way into the knockout stages, before the biggest scare of them all in the round of 16 against Slovakia. England were on the verge of embarrassment until Bellingham produced a magnificent bicycle kick to force the game into extra time, where Kane saved England's blushes and sent them to the quarterfinal.
It was here where we first saw real change, Southgate switched the system to a 3-4-3 with Foden and Bellingham playing as two 10s. This allowed more fluidity in the attacking third and England were a better team because of it, but still far from perfect as Bukayo Saka saved Southgate 10 minutes before the final whistle before a penalty shoot-out victory over Switzerland.
England's most complete performance came in the semi-final where for 45 minutes they looked like the real deal against the Netherlands. It looked as though it all started to click into place at the right time and the team were hitting their stride. This was halted somewhat by Ronald Koeman's men in the second half however, but thanks to Ollie Watkins' last-minute winner England had made the Euro's final for a second consecutive time.
The final was a reprint of how England had played throughout the tournament though, lacked ideas going forward, no fluidity and a lack of energy. Cole Palmer's equaliser could have helped Southgate's men push on but it wasn't to be.
For all the good work Southgate has done since becoming England manager the one area he does lack is the tactical game plan and how to get the best out of his top players.
The England boss mentioned several times throughout the tournament that the league seasons his players are coming off the back of was a reason for lack of energy, and he may be right in some cases.
Foden was playing his 66th game of the season in the final and many other players have played more than 60 games since August. This was the case for other teams as well however, so it can really be used as an excuse as much as it may have impacted some performances.
Entering the tournament trying out experiments and not knowing or having a plan has cost England, something that Southgate has so often got right in the past.
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Outside noise
Something which has not affected this England team in past tournaments is the noise from everyone outside the camp. Southgate has done a fantastic job creating a good relationship between his squad and the media.
Over the years the media were seen as the enemy to squads gone by, but Southgate created an environment of which players and media would work together.
This summer however seemed different. This was Southgate's fourth tournament as England manager, and for the first time, he sensed tension in the air. He mentioned the 'noise' surrounding the team and the challenges players faced in trying to ignore it.
The truth is the performances weren't good enough for the quality England posses, Southgate knew that, as did the players, but the media talking about it put more pressure onto the team and it didn't have a good effect.
Players even started to voice their opinions on the matter. Kane was asked during a press conference about former England striker Gary Lineker's comments on his podcast The Rest Is Football, after the presenter criticised the team's performance against Denmark.
Kane gave a comment of asking former players and pundits to think about what they say when talking about the team, since they have been there before and know how difficult it can be in tournament football.
Bellingham was the next player to comment on criticism from the media and others online. After his dramatic equaliser against Slovakia he was interviewed at the end of the game as he won the player of the match award.
He was asked about his celebration where you could see him asking "Who else?" He described his celebration as an adrenaline rush but also as a "message to a few people." "You hear a lot of nonsense being talked," he added, "It's satisfying that when you succeed, you can respond in kind."
It was clear that for the first time in a while the outside noise was getting to the team and Southgate, another aspect which can be a reason for an underwhelming tournament performance-wise.
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What next?
Southgate's current contract is coming to an end, and a new deal has been a topic of conversation. When asked about it after the defeat to Spain he insisted that nothing will be said publicly and that discussions will be hard but the time isn't right at the moment.
A new deal for the former Middlesbrough manager would likely see him take charge until the conclusion of the 2026 World Cup in North America, but as he mentioned a lot will be discussed between now and then.
It is clear from the FA's side however that they are keen to keep him on board and continue the fantastic job he has so far done with this team, all he is now missing is international glory.
He would have learnt a lot from this tournament alone, arguably more than any other which can only benefit himself and his team going forward.
The question is if he has the energy himself to keep going and to lead the Three Lions into a fifth major tournament, and this time bring home the success which can't be far away now.
