"Not having that from Southgate" - Gabby Agbonlahor calls out England manager for his post-match comments after Euro 2024 S/F win
Former England forward Gabby Agbonlahor has called out Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate for his comments after winning the Euro 2024 semi-final. The head coach notably made two important substitutions that secured the win against the Netherlands in Signal Iduna Park on July 10.
Ons Oranje scored first, with Xavi Simons beating Jordan Pickford with a powerful shot from distance. However, the Three Lions retaliated, as Harry Kane scored from the penalty spot. It took till the 90th minute to find the late winner, through Ollie Watkins, who came on as a substitute for Kane.
After the Euro 2024 game, Gareth Southgate talked about the criticism he had faced during his time as England's head coach. Southgate told reporters (via Mirror):
"We all want to be loved, right? When you are doing something for your country and you are a proud Englishman, when all you read is criticism… it is hard."
This saw Gabriel Agbonlahor retort on talkSPORT (via Mirror):
"I'm not having that from Southgate, you've been criticized because the football has been woeful. Look at the teams we've played and we've struggled in, you look at the route to the final, Slovakia, Switzerland and Netherlands, games we should be winning.
"Let's be honest here, the players that we've got available, the players that have been left at home, so you're getting criticized which isn't nice but you're being paid £5million a year to coach the best talent, probably in a squad in the world."
The former England forward continued:
"What he's done with this group of players is what he should have done with this group of players. Let's have it right, let's not all be like 'you can't criticize him'. We haven't won anything in 58 years. The French have, the Spanish have, the Germans have, the Portuguese have, we haven't so we deserve to criticize him."
England notably lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy, crashing out in the penalty shootout. This will face Spain in the Euro 2024 final on July 14.
Euro 2024: England face Spain in final clash
England and Spain will clash horns in the ultimate match of Euro 2024 at the Olympiastadion Berlin on July 14. It will be the second consecutive final for the Three Lions, who stumbled at the last when they faced Italy at Wembley three years ago.
They will be hoping to take the game to Spain, who are easily one of the best teams in Euro2024. La Roja have been quality throughout, scoring an impressive 13 goals in merely six games.
The opposite has been true for England, who have scored just seven goals in six games, getting to penalties in the Euro 2024 quarter-final against Switzerland. Spain have notably won their games without going to penalties.