At 3 am on July 15th, in the final of the European Championship, Spain defeated England 2-1 to claim the title of this year’s European Championship. After the match, renowned host Zhan Jun discussed the game, analyzing the reasons behind England’s failure in the European Championship once again.
Zhan Jun said, “If Luke Shaw had been able to closely mark Yarmal when he cut inside at the start of the second half; if Saka could have tracked back in time to chase down Cucurella before the second goal, allowing Walker to block his cross; if the team had just had a bit more luck with their three consecutive headers from corner kicks in the dying moments of the game… England didn’t lose because of these details. After all, Yarmal also had two excellent opportunities in the second half. The Spanish team simply had too many attacking variations, and England couldn’t rely solely on defense to match this La Roja side, which has returned to its peak. Despite being the joint top scorer of the tournament, captain Harry Kane’s performance was mediocre; he lacked sharpness and failed to fulfill his role as a lone striker effectively, failing to create chemistry with Foden and Bellingham behind him.”
Furthermore, Zhan Jun added, “England lost due to ‘philosophy.’ Southgate has done well over the past eight years; he is the most successful manager for England since Sir Alf Ramsey led the team to victory in the 1966 World Cup. Personally, I believe not taking Grealish to Germany was still an erroneous decision. Southgate was the coach who best utilized Plan B in this tournament, but entering the knockout stage, they conceded first in all four matches. The Three Lions need a new coach with a more proactive tactical philosophy and offensive strategies that can solve the coexistence dilemma of this group of young talents.”