Carragher backs Southgate after England players ‘froze’ v Spain amid ‘mentality issue’

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has pointed blame towards the England players, not Gareth Southgate, following their failure to win Euro 2024.

England were beaten 2-1 by Spain in the final of Euro 2024 after goals from Nico Williams and substitute Mikel Oyarzabal.

The Three Lions were fairly underwhelming throughout the tournament, particularly in their opening four games, despite reaching the final and ending up falling short against comfortably the best team in Germany.

With the tournament over, there will be lots of questions asked about the future of Southgate , who has led England to back-to-back European Championship finals but could not get over the line once again.

Southgate is out of contract in December and will soon hold talks with the Football Association – who are reportedly eager to keep him .

The majority of fans seem to want to see the back of the 53-year-old, while the England players are strongly behind their manager .

There is a big divide in the punditry world, particularly among ex-England players, with Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer heavily criticising Southgate throughout Euro 2024.

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Former Three Lions centre-back Carragher has rallied behind Southgate though, explaining why defeat against Spain was down to the players and not the manager.

Carragher believes Southgate is the best manager to guide England to the 2026 World Cup and insists the players “froze” and showed a lack of “courage” in Sunday’s final in Berlin.

He wrote in his Telegraph Sport column: “Gareth Southgate remains the right man to lead the country to the 2026 World Cup. He should not be scapegoated for the Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain.

“He led the country to another final where they were deservedly beaten by a superior side, but there is no way his selections or in-game decisions were the decisive factor on Sunday night. My belief going into the game was Southgate had to stay, win or lose. Conceding an 87th-minute winner does not change that.

“I am going to remain consistent and argue the failure when it mattered came down to the players failing to deliver. They didn’t play with enough courage.

“England’s stars froze and could never impose themselves on an excellent Spain team.

“We played with a fear of losing a European Championship final whereas Spain played like it was a European Championship group game. Sadly, this was not Spain’s toughest match of the tournament.”

Carragher continued: “I cannot believe Jordan Pickford was under orders to keep giving the ball away with wasteful, long kicks upfield. We did not have enough players ordering him to stop while demanding the ball.

“I’ve played in enough games where I could see players hiding and refusing to show themselves to take possession, hoping something will come from long, hopeful balls. Southgate is not telling them to do that. In those situations you need the biggest players to show for it and say they will accept the ball in difficult areas. Again, that is all about football courage.

“For me, rather than the manager, this still comes down to a historic problem which is embedded in the national team’s psyche. We have a mentality issue when it comes to taking on superior teams in the biggest games… This has been the way for the 30 years I have watched or played for England. Are you telling me that is a Southgate issue?

“That is a legacy of the 58 years without a trophy that has been extended. I do not accept it comes from the manager’s approach. It is too easy to pin all the responsibility on him. This has been the first tournament under Southgate we have not performed in. That’s why I believe it is on the players.”

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Carragher’s immediate reaction on X (formerly known as Twitter) was very similar, pointing blame at the players, not Southgate.

“Big players didn’t turn up!!” he wrote in the aftermath of the result. “We had about 60% possession until the final because we played average teams. You blame Southgate for some of the best attacking players in Europe not being able to break average defences down???

“I have no relationship at all with Southgate. I feel he has been cautious from the bench throughout his time but in this tournament the substitutes have been great. There is this idea though that he is holding back an amazing team. Is it any better than 1996/1998/2004??

“International football is not littered with top managers, it’s about the players. Ours froze in that first half, allowing the keeper to go long & not demanding the ball & showing for it.”

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