It was in the 80th minute that Southgate took action. He replaced Harry Kane, the England men’s team’s all-time top scorer, and Phil Foden, who was named Premier League player of the season. In came Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer, who together had played 20 games for England, scored four goals and had zero assists. Ten minutes later, with the game heading into overtime, tied at 1-1, Palmer played a pass into the box to Watkins. The Aston Villa striker set the ball straight, before clinching the ball into the corner. 2–1 and EC final for England. – Watkins in for Kane with the defensive play the Netherlands answered England with in the second half was the perfect change. But not everyone takes out their captain at 1-1, ten minutes before the end. Coaching in world class, reports news’s football expert Kristoffer Løkberg on X immediately after the end of the match. Speaking to news, he elaborates: – Watkins’ movement pattern suited the Netherlands perfectly, who took the sting out of England for large parts of the match. Southgate’s counter move was perfect, Not everyone does that. Ronaldo played almost all the minutes for Portugal, even though the matches screamed for something else, says Løkberg. Substitute Watkins had only played 20 minutes, in the match against Denmark, earlier in the EC, before the substitution. Another of news’s football experts, Bengt Eriksen, believes it was all a game of chance. – Southgate took out Kane and Bellingham earlier also in the European Championship (against Switzerland) when it was a penalty shootout and that is of course just stupid. You can’t take out the best penalty taker when you can end up there, says Eriksen. Southgate to news: – Wanting to take the chance, news even asked Southgate about the replacement of Kane at the press conference after the match. There he explained that Kane got hit in the situation that led to the penalty kick and that they were not sure how long he could play. – Both he and Foden played well, but we started to lose some energy in our pressing game. Of course we didn’t take Foden out because of his game, but we have a lot of good players on the bench who could give the team more freshness and energy, says Southgate. VICTORY HUG: Southgate gave Watkins a good hug after the match. Photo: AFP The England manager has come in for a lot of criticism throughout the championship, needing extra time to progress against Slovakia and a penalty shootout to knock out Switzerland en route to Wednesday’s semi-final. – We wanted to take that chance in regular time instead of in extra time. We’ve been there twice now and didn’t want to go through it again. Watkins scoring there saved us another half hour of play. I am very happy on his behalf, says Southgate to news. – Can’t be fooled the way Løkberg is aware that you would prefer to have Kane on the field if it had gone to a penalty shootout. – There are many coaches who would have thought about that change, but didn’t do it. He is the leader and a match-winner, but the match was crying out for a quicker backroom threat. That exchange is simply a powerful moment when Watkins does what he does, says Løkberg. Kane equalized for England in Wednesday’s match with a penalty kick. – He is England’s number one penalty taker. I think that seems stupid (to replace Kane before a possible penalty shootout). Many will probably think that Southgate was a fool when he brought in Watkins, but you can’t be fooled like that. He has a bit of flow, and there are coincidences in play too, says Eriksen. THE MOMENT: Ollie Watkins (left) sent England soaring. Here with Cole Palmer hot on his heels. Photo: AP – No one will try to convince me that Watkins’ great goal was what Southgate envisioned. You have to gamble, and he knows Watkins better than I do, but you know what you’re taking out and you don’t know what you’re getting in. That is my point of appeal, continues Eriksen. In TV 2’s studio broadcast, there were several words of praise about Southgate’s changes. – In the period before those changes, England looked a bit finished. They lacked energy and intensity. They really had to do something, and then he chose Watkins, who is more mobile, says Jesper Mathisen. – He makes a couple of changes here, and it turns out to be a stroke of genius. It is positive again that a match where they are passive, they manage to change that, says Erik Thorstvedt. The EC final between Spain and England starts at 21:00 on Sunday. The match is broadcast on news. Published 11.07.2024, at 09.47
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– It seems stupid – European Football Championship 2024
