“It changes everything” - Micah Richards pinpoints what England must do to play like Spain at Euro 2024
Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards believes England need an attacking manager to play football like Spain at Euro 2024. The Three Lions were far from their best in the group stages, and their bad run of form spilled into their Round-of-16 clash against Slovakia on Sunday (June 30). After trailing for much of the tie, Jude Bellingham needed to produce a magical bicycle kick in stoppage time (90+5') to equalize and avoid elimination.
For Gareth Southgate, Harry Kane provided his team with a winner in extra time (91'), as England won 2-1. With pundits and podcasters continuing to break down the team's issues, Richards believes the manager could be the main problem.
He told the Stick to Football podcast (via SPORTbible):
"Get an attacking manager, simple as that really. It is as simple as that, if you get an attacking manager, it changes everything. And that's no disrespect to the previous England managers, you've got to play on the front foot, you've got to believe that you can win games that way, the modern football way."
On the flip side, Spain were impressive in their Round-of-16 clash against Georgia on Sunday (June 30). Much like The Three Lions, they went down a goal in the 18th minute but replied with four of their own to reach the quarter-finals.
Southgate and company will be up against Switzerland in the quarter-final of Euro 2024 on Saturday (July 6). Meanwhile, Spain are gearing up to face hosts Germany in the final eight on Friday (July 5).
Gareth Southgate believes England need to do better at Euro 2024
Following their slender victory over Slovakia in the Round of 16 stage of Euro 2024, England boss Gareth Southgate has said his team needed to do better.
Although The Three Lions managed to finish at the top of Group C, they recorded only one win, an unconvincing 1-0 victory over Serbia. Southgate said after his team's latest game (via BBC Sport):
"We know we should be better than we've been but we've ended up with a lot of young players in important positions and trying to solve problems right the way through the four weeks of the camp. But the standout is the way that the players are dealing with it. Their togetherness, their spirit."
In the group stages, The Three Lions scored only two goals, and their lack of creativity has been on show throughout the competition. They drew their games with Denmark (1-1) and Slovenia (0-0). The likes of Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden will be key to creating opportunities in their upcoming game.