Carragher reveals what ‘baffles’ him about England as he reveals ‘caveat’ ahead of semi-final

Jamie Carragher insists he can’t understand how “so little in the England team is functioning correctly” during their Euro 2024 campaign.

England required spot-kicks to reach the last four after a 1-1 draw after extra time in Dusseldorf against Switzerland on Saturday evening.

Bukayo Saka had scored England’s equaliser in the 80th minute after Breel Embolo had put the Swiss ahead five minutes earlier.

Saka then held his nerve from the spot as England prevailed in 5-3 in the shoot-out , with Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold also successful and Jordan Pickford saving from Manuel Akanji.

England have failed to produce the sparkling performances expected of them by many and former Liverpool defender Carragher is trying to understand their poor displays,

“What baffles me is how so little in the England team is functioning correctly,” Carragher told the Daily Telegraph .

“To be positive, we can say they are holding up defensively. Again, the caveat is they are yet to play a side with any world-class forwards.

“The French and Spanish will want to play England in the final because they will be confident they will create the opportunities which others have not taken.

“England must find a top-level performance from somewhere if they are to leave Germany with what they came for.

“If England are to transform what we have seen so far into a tournament victory, not for the first time over the last few weeks they are leaving it very, very late to do so.”

On England’s stuttering form, Carragher added: “We can’t escape reality. We cannot dress it up any other way.

“England have been extremely lucky, first against Slovakia and now Switzerland. They are through to the last four despite performances, rather than because of them.

“Gareth Southgate will wake up on Sunday morning with more to ponder than is normal for any international manager who has just reached a semi-final.

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“When he and his staff discuss the next team selection, they will have more questions than answers.

“Never mind the best England team, we are still none the wiser about the best formation. This is unprecedented territory for us because every other England side that played to this level would have flown home by now.”