‘Not saying I told you so but…’ – Wayne Rooney reveals TWELVE blunders England boss Gareth Southgate’s made at Euros
WAYNE ROONEY has named 12 mistakes Gareth Southgate has made at the Euros.
The Three Lions left fans thoroughly concerned with their performance against Denmark on Thursday as they played out a 1-1 draw in Frankfurt.
Many have called for a number of changes to be made ahead of England’s final Group C game against Slovenia on Tuesday.
And Rooney, 38, who is working as a pundit for the BBC at the tournament, has now discussed a number of ways Southgate has gone wrong in Germany.
Among those included positional decisions such as playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield, putting Phil Foden on the left, and leaving Anthony Gordon on the bench.
Speaking in his column for The Times, he said: “Without wishing to make a big thing and say: ‘I told you so,’ we’ve seen two games where the team Gareth Southgate decided would be his best XI for the tournament just has not looked right in terms of balance — and I did write before Euro 2024 began that playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield would be a mistake.”
He also pointed to the lack of energy and tempo in England‘s game.
This coincides with the Three Lions’ inability to press both Serbia and Denmark.
The exclusion of Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford were also decisions Rooney disagreed with.
And in terms of Henderson’s omission, it leaves Harry Kane without a vocal presence behind him.
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Southgate's 12 blunders according to Rooney
Here are the 12 blunders Wayne Rooney believes have been made by Gareth Southgate:
- Playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield
- Selecting Phil Foden on the left
- Not starting Anthony Gordon
- Lack of energy and tempo
- Not pressing
- Not selecting Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford
- No co-ordination going forward
- Lack of vocal presence on the pitch
- Poor substitutions – Eze and Bowen over Gordon and Palmer
- Being too stubborn
- Players coming inside too early
- Overthinking due to number of options
Rooney added: “You coach how you want to press but then you need leaders on the pitch to execute it and Harry needs someone vocal behind telling him to show the opponent left, show them right and so on.
“Sometimes, when you’re the striker, you need to be told to wait or to let the centre back come and step into your press. I wonder if anyone is helping Harry in that way.
“Having played with Henderson I can tell you he’s very loud and excellent at organising the pressing.
“Rice is quite vocal but not to the same level, and I don’t think Trent is much of a talker on the pitch at all.
“Whoever plays midfield in the next game has to be in Harry’s ear and support him.”
In-game substitutions were also disputed by Rooney as he believes the introductions of Eberechi Eze and Jarrod Bowen against Denmark should actually have been Gordon and Cole Palmer.
He also suggested Southgate has been “stubborn” and “overthinking” his own moves.
And the lack of co-ordination going forward is being caused by “players coming inside too early”.
He added: “Both Jude and Phil want to get into the No10 position but aren’t going at the right times.
“Phil is coming inside too early, leaving too great a distance for Kieran Trippier to cover and get there with his supporting run.
“In fact a lot of players are coming inside too early and getting into their positions too early, making England easy to defend against, crowding the middle of the pitch.
“We’re even seeing Jude drop at times and Rice become the furthest player forward. There is too much going on in there.
“The players should be told to hold their positions a little bit longer — and then make those movements late and at a quicker pace.”
Pundits and legends lay into England
ENGLAND's lifeless display in the 1-1 draw with Denmark left pundits and legends queuing up to take a dig at Gareth Southgate's team.
Here’s the best of what was said…
ALAN SHEARER
“Awful performance, particularly after going up in the game.
“I don’t think one England player can look at themselves and say, ‘I’ve done my job tonight’.
“England were all over the place, far too sloppy in possession, gave the ball away too much and got caught too many times.
“There was no energy, no pace, no guile — Southgate is simply not getting the best out of England’s best players.
“It’s concerning and Gareth will get some serious questions.
“You saw England players lying on their backs — they look absolutely shattered but there’s no excuse for that.”
GARY LINEKER
The BBC host called the performance “lifeless and tepid”.
On Harry Kane he said: “He needs his manager to ask more of him. I would have expected that if I’d put in that kind of performance.”
RIO FERDINAND
“The players don’t look the same as they do for their clubs. It is a big concern.”
ROY KEANE
“Courage and bravery, we’re not really seeing it.
“There’s something amiss with the balance. Bellingham is waving his arms.
“This is a big test for Gareth. It looks like he’s overthinking things.”
JAMIE CARRAGHER
“My big worry watching this and for the rest of the tournament?
“England look absolutely knackered. They can’t get close to the ball.
“The surest sign of fatigue is dropping deep.
“Declan Rice is having to cover so much ground. No-one can convince me this is a strategy.”
JACK WILSHERE
“It’s strange that we have taken the lead in both games so far, yet instead of it settling us down and giving us the confidence to play, we have failed to take control.
“But what was most worrying was that Denmark had a clear way of playing — while we didn’t.”