Gareth Southgate said there was “no hiding” from England’s fitness issues at Euro 2024 and admitted Harry Kane was unable to reach his best level in Germany.
Southgate’s side have been dogged by physical concerns since before they left for Euro 2024 at the start of June and rarely looked as sharp as their Spanish opponents in Sunday’s final defeat.
Captain Kane missed the end of Bayern Munich’s season while LaLiga’s player of the season Jude Bellingham faded in the second half of the campaign, with 18 of his 23 club goals coming before the turn of the year.
The England manager, who refused to talk about his future following the game, may come under scrutiny over whether he could have better utilised his squad – or taken another left-back given Luke Shaw’s long-term injury absence.
But speaking to ITV Sport, he said: “There’s no hiding we’ve had some issues coming into the tournament, we’ve managed to deal with most of them and got Luke [Shaw] out tonight, but we’ve just fallen short in the end.
“It’s probably both [a success and missed opportunity], frankly. The players have got to take enormous credit to get us to the point we did, but when you get as close as that you’ve got to take your chances.
“The character, the resilience they’ve shown, I just think tonight we didn’t keep the ball well enough. They had more control of the game and that was probably the main difference. I just think against Spain, they press well, you have to keep the ball when you win it back.
“Defensively we were fine in the first half, you just have to retain the ball a little bit better. In the end, maybe that’s the bit that takes a little bit out.”
In his subsequent press conference, Southgate added: “So many of our players came into the camp having missed the end of the season, we’ve managed to get Luke through 90 minutes when he hasn’t played for four months. We’ve had Kobbie as a young player who’s done incredibly well, but the amount of football he’s had this year…. Jude, we were about to take off because he was cramping as well.
“We had a decent period and got the equaliser, but I think the physical toll of the issues we came into the tournament with, the extra-time periods, having as little of the ball as we did tonight ultimately took a big toll and I think that was part of the reason why legs started to go and you start to make mistakes.
“That physical toll was definitely an issue for us with others in the group as well. Of course, that’s exacerbated when you don’t keep the ball earlier in the game.
“There was a lot stacked against us, with having a day less to recover from the previous game and the extra time periods we did, but we have to hold our hands up – Spain were better.”
Jude Bellingham says he is heartbroken after losing to Spain in Berlin and believes at some point this young England has to deliver.
Southgate took the bold decision to take off captain Kane, England’s record goalscorer, with an hour played in the hope replacement Ollie Watkins could repeat his heroics which had seen off the Netherlands in such dramatic fashion on Wednesday night.
It marked a disappointing end to a mixed tournament for Kane, who ended in a six-way tie for the Golden Boot but looked off the pace for long periods and struggled to exert his normally impressive all-round game on the competition.
The England striker told BBC Sport the Euros had been a “tough tournament” while Southgate added: “Physically, it’s been a tough period for Harry [Kane]. He came in short of games and didn’t quite get up to the level we’d all hope.
“We felt Ollie’s freshness would allow us to press a bit better and offer us a threat in behind. I thought they both did what we wanted.”
Kane himself reflected: “It’s been a tough tournament. We’ve had to show a lot of resilience, me personally and the team.
“It’s been a difficult ride and we’ve done extremely well to get here. But ultimately we’re going to be judged on this game.
“We wanted to do it so badly for ourselves and the fans, and everyone who’s believed in us the whole way. Right now, it’s just huge disappointment.”
Gareth Southgate says he will have conversations with ‘important people behind the scenes’ about his future as England manager.
Southgate refused to be drawn in TV interviews on his England future, with his contract up in December,. The FA has previously strongly suggested it wants him to remain in post.
He gave more of a hint at his position in his press conference, saying: “I need to have those conversations with important people behind the scenes. I’m obviously not going to discuss that publicly first. Without a doubt, England have got some fabulous young players.
“Even the young ones have got a lot of experience in tournaments. Many of this squad are going to be around in two, four, six, eight years time. We have now been consistently back in the matches that matter. It’s the last step that we haven’t been able to do.”
Captain Kane, who has made 81 of his 98 international appearances and scored 61 of his 66 goals under Southgate, made his feelings clear after the match but insisted it was up to the manager to decide his own fate.
“We made it clear we love the manager, but that’s his decision [whether he wants to stay on],” he told ITV. “Now’s not the time to talk about it.
“It’s down to him, he’ll go away and think about it. But we’re all just hurting.”
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Gary Neville said: “I felt Ollie Watkins should come on for Harry Kane at half-time. I thought Anthony Gordon should come on down the left and Jude Bellingham should get off that lefthand side and go back into central midfield.
Gary Neville reflects on the heartbreak following England’s defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final
“I felt like we needed Bukayo Saka, Gordon and Watkins up top because we were being pushed back by a fantastic Spanish team – for England to travel box to box and carry the ball with pace and connect Watkins as quickly as possible.
“You have to have a counterattack when you’re playing deep. We were almost playing with a counter-attacking strategy, without a counter-attacking team.
“It didn’t take long for Gareth to make the changes, when he brought on Cole Palmer and Watkins. Palmer is a fantastic player and he scored the goal but I did feel like we need pace in the wide areas.”
