EURO Preview: Will England’s road to the final hurt them vs. Spain? | ESPN FC

EURO Preview: Will England’s road to the final hurt them vs. Spain? | ESPN FC

what a story it has been for olle Watkins the winning goal scorer in the semifinal between England and Netherlands look at some of these nether in doubt yes oay Watkins oh what night this is a player who’s gone from non-league football to the world stage after this game and so understandably taking all the headlines in the UK right now just taking a look at the odds not to burst the England bubble of Good Feeling but Spain are the favorites heading into the Final on Sunday I’m sure Craig Bley is thrilled to see that England at the favorite of course of I think it’s been questionable all the way through but you get back still with mean it was a total head scratcher all the way ESPN bet all the way through the bookies England are still why how but actually they got a little in that holling game you know we saw glimpses of the old England how we know they can play but but I think everybody would agree Spain have been the team in this humor me right we saw some glimpses of how they can play is that because they were playing against the Dutch side who came out to play and and weren’t sitting back is that maybe a little boost of confidence knowing that Spain will come out to play them that they’ll might confence that this Holland side are mediocre by past Holland sides standards and this Spain side I’m not the 208 210 and 212 standard for sure but they’re a damn good side so that’s there’s nothing within the Holland performance that’s really going to prepare England for the Spain performance we know exactly we talked about it yesterday there’s no there’s no curve ball here from Spain we know probably pretty much what the team will be they know we know they’ll play 433 we know they have two wi men three guys in the middle of the park and Danny will make runs to try and get up and support so there is no curveball here it’s how can England deal with it and I don’t think there’ be any cover balls from England because G Southgate usually picks same they cannot be comfortable in their minds right now because France and we put that ahead of anything we’re very solid defensively they scored the first goal you say oh my God that’s not good for Spain because FR they they they very good and very solid they came back in 10 minutes they scor two goals it says a lot about their confidence their skills the way they prepared by the lafuente it’s going to be a big task for the for the English jgen let me ask you what you made of Gareth Southgate taking Harry Kane off obviously it came a bit later as we’ve come to expect in these games but it must have taken a lot of guts it paid off though with olle Watkins coming on how difficult is it as a coach to make a decision like that obviously it’s difficult because if it doesn’t work out and you lose the game then everybody will question you and and gets back to you but I think it’s courageous and and I think uh he’s trying to do different things at different moments in time hopefully you know they work out in this case now with W Watkins coming in and scoring and the beauty of a goal uh is fantastic you know you look like a genius when when you are the manager and do something like that you know I think you know um the English side is is in the tournament now better better late than never and obviously we totally agree that this the this Spanish side is the best uh best team of the tournament so far but this actually doesn’t matter anymore on Sunday night on Sunday night matters only the momentum if you understand the momentum and I think that England just came back right in time for this special special game on Sunday night and uh I I see a good chance for England to bring to bring that to Trophy home I’m not sure there’s been that much pressure on Southgate really with Kane I mean in previous games and previous years yes but he’s been because of his F he’s been so poor and so he looks so heavy legged and lethargic that it’s been quite obvious actually particularly as the games of War on it’s not like the the Jal La Augie are waiting to like jump on him for taking Harry Kane off I think Mo most of the JS sitting watching the game and thinking we need to get Harry Kane off so it’s just sort of the way that it’s panned out for him whether it’s Fitness or not they’ve talked about it I don’t know but he hasn’t looked himself but guess what and m talked talked about it yesterday he’ll be the first name on the team sheet at the weekend again but he is for sure he is laboring at the moment Mark Ogden was at the game in this one what stood out to you mark anything that stood out from being there that maybe we would have missed not just to Echo Craig’s point about you know taking Kane off I think from 60 Minutes homewards it was fairly obvious that Harry Kane was struggling and there’s a 20-minute period where the Dutch got a lot of momentum and it really could have gone the other way so the point was that Seth gate probably should have made the substitutions a bit quicker but he held his nerve and he he left it late but you know I I think you know Jon Stones played really well for me I thought Jon Stone stood out last night I think it had a great game C Walker as well I think England’s defenses has gotten this point you know they haven’t been convincing going forward but defensively they’ve been pretty strong now they haven’t come up against a team that as good as Spain they’ve had a they’ve had a soft route to the final it has to be said and Spain will test them a lot and I do wonder how they’ll be able to to cut with Danny alore where they going to who’s going to pick him up who’s going to kind of drop in the space to pick him up because I thought Dean rice was a bit labored maybe against the Dutch so they’ve got a lot of problems to solve against Spain but I do think that defensively England are strong but this is a test that they haven’t had yet and it’s it’s a really big test and just going into some of the specific performances because the other day when I was on with you I asked you who needed to step up obviously Harry Kane was one of the names so to was Phil fodm saw a lot better from him in the I thought the first half englands were were were much better yesterday uh I thought Saka played well in the first half folden when he drifted into those positions that you see him drift into when he plays for Manchester City of course he had a wonderful shot that that hit the side of the post I thought he was excellent but something happened at halim whether it was just a tactical um bit of information off Ronald kumman but England will poor in the second half and you were just you know we we were all sitting waiting if just to go to extra time again it was that type of game until Ole Watkins had that wonderful wonderful moment so um yeah they just need to they’ve done it they’ve they’ve gotten to where they are now they just need to finish it off because as Mark said they got we all know they got a soft soft run to the final H to the to where they are now they played Hollands in the semi-finals and you know as Craig said this is not the Holland of all this is a quite dysfunctional Holland side really with with no no real clear plan and you know the the center for of depai who struggled all year and V horse is not going to scare England and shouldn’t to so we’re in the final now they just need to finish it off these are the best team they’re going to face these the best team in the tournament who have been outstanding can we you know can we just get over that final hdle Mark words made me think about my words before the semi-final against Spain with France France is are very Solly defensively so it’s only offensively that they’re going to struggle but they can then prove they are strong well France were very very solid defensively and it didn’t help them out to to to go through and uh they will need to be of course more confident but more attractive also offensively more performant offensively and be even more solid at the back if they want to a achieve something let’s talk about the lead up to a final L as a player let me start with you Jurgen what’s that like when you know that final’s coming and you’ve just got those days that pass on the way to it well it’s a very very special time because I think the adrenaline is already so high in in yourself if you are the manager or if you are the the player because you cannot wait until that that game starts and I think one thing is also very important is whatever happened until this point in time right now does doesn’t matter anymore you know what what games they they performed you know in the last couple of weeks now going through these up and downs and being critici all over and that it’s all gone it’s all gone I think with that goal from olly wat Watkins you know they are s so high on confidence they are so kind of full of belief and I think also what what happens in a moment like that is that you connect with with your fans you connect with your country in a very deep emotional way and you feel like you know I can I can write history now on Sunday as a player as as a manager and and and I think they going to take this all in now and you will see in in England side on on Sunday they will fight for their lives U and with a lot of energy and and obviously maybe all agree that Spain played the the best tournament so far but but they they start nil nil Sunday night and I I think you know the the the English side learned a lot over the last couple of tournaments they did a a good tournament in Qatar they were obviously very very close with Italy three years ago at Wembley and they went far in Russia as well so so they went now through those kind of approaches through those days before such a big big game so they they are so eager they’re so hungry to bring the trophy home so I I’m really positive about it and I already forgot how they played the last couple of games how glorious failure I’ll take we’ll take glorious glorious failure how come you never asked the Scotsman about what’s it like playing the I could ask you all to be honest you’ve whether it’s club or country I could ask you all what that’s like on the buildup to it you feeling like when do you put the last game behind you and start to focus on the next game well it’ll be now won’t it for England of course they’ll have um they’ll have celebrated last night and rightly so to get to the final wonder you know Wonderful achievement but now they have to focus on you know the task at hand and this is the big task getting to finals as jgen said England have done that in the past they just need to get over the line and win one and Spain won’t do anything different they’ll know exactly how Spain are going to play they’ll know the lineup they’ll know the play you know rodri and F and the teammates they will know each other inside out and you just have to stop them and um it’s easier said than done because these are the the favorite and the best team in the in the competition but I’ve seen England beat Spain before and um you never you never know what happens a yellow card here a red card there a penalty there so um you need a little bit of Fortune of course you do but they’re in the right place at the right time and um you know they can all they can do is is go and give it their best and you know they’re going to have to give it their best to beat this team they’re going to have to be this is going to have to be their best game of this whole tournament if they’re going to have to beat Spain and of course England have got that penalty phobia sort of out of the system a little bit I mean you could still lose in penalties and you could still miss one but the confidence of actually getting over the line in that penalty shootout against Switzerland which they did and they took they all took some great penalties so that sort of helps a little bit if the game starts to go deep and you start thinking about it because you know they’ve got some positive memories from that but you know how are they going to cope I’m just intrigued how they’re going to cope with these fast pacy young wide players that Spain have we know Walker’s got all the experience in the world on that right side if he plays May kako plays a wing back again uh how deep is he going to is he going to have to track nich Williams all the way back or is Kyle Walker going to shift out how treat K in trippy if he plays going to CAU with Lin yal who you know could arguably the best player in the tournament it’s going to be 17 when this game starts knocking on a bit but what what’s their best hope then in that situation what’s the best case scenar well England can England can pretty much match maybe not possession wise for her 90 minutes but look Scotland beat Spain in the qualifiers and it’s this team is not infallible the Spanish of course but England have to have a better level even from where they got to in the first half against the Netherlands what England did in the other games Slovakia Switzerland the group games that will not suffice if they play in that manner I I think they’ll get taken apart but if if they play as we know they can it could be a tight tense of fa luck is also the X Factor in in a final you don’t have to play well you have to win it and in in any ways and um it’s been proven by England throughout the the tournament that the luck is is on their side I have to say the last goal from Jude Bingham the last goal Yer yesterday for OE Watkins and the and the the decision of GIS sa to put him on I mean so many things that I can feel that the luck is on their way on their part but the football is on the other side and uh but you have to prepare that I mean a final um it’s it has to be prepared before it’s nothing to do with the semi-final it’s how you sleep how you prepare yourself how you trust yourself in that matter football career is very short and uh and um and you have to know that you can reach the pick with a Champions League F Champions League final with your club or european Championship or or World Cup Championship and it’s the pick of the pick in your career and you know that you don’t want to miss that Rendevous and it’s something special is very emotionally uh high but the best are going to go there and going to turn the right way the others they going to fall and uh it’s up to them to create history for their country no I’m not I’m not suggesting Spain would not be as good as side with pedre in it but in some sense they’re a different side with Dan Elmo because I think we all agree Alvar Morata is not a prolific Striker right and Dan ELO is much different to pedre in terms of he’s so prepared to continue to make those runs he’s a Jude Bingham of Spain he’s a good player he times he’ll get involved in the middle of the par but not as much as pedre but he is fantastic at when Strikers Spin and make runs of picking that Gap and driving into it and that and we talk about a little bit of luck it’s not for pedri getting injured but maybe a little bit of luck for the Spanish manager that he was forced into a change and it’s a change that’s actually actually suited the Spanish team very well in fact there was a lot of calls apparently in Spain before the tournament tournament started foro to play from the start yeah and in the end because of Pedro’s injury he does and he has looked a big threat uh Steve we need to look away now because I’m told there’s a picture from the 96 final with uh Jurgen clintsman celebrating with the Queen of England oh beautiful pck there we go Jurgen they’ve got to be happy memories of sealing the Euros yeah absolutely I mean those moments are not coming back anymore those moments you carry with you the entire life and and uh if England or obviously if Spain if any player wins the trophy there on um on Sunday he will carry that for the rest of his life because uh um it’s just uh it’s just Priceless the experience that you have you have to have experience stand with with your entire nation you share it with uh with family friends and and everyone and and you will be always reminded when you travel somewhere and and people tell you then where they were 96 where they maybe at RL Stadium where they in front of the TV or or whatever they they have done and and so and this is this is something that that kind of makes football so beautiful because it gives you those emotional moments and uh and I mean I never forget we’ll be after the the win and then uh obviously in London we flew back home for reception in Frankfurt and uh before landing basically we look left and right out of our uh Windows there in on the airplane and we had two star Fighters just guiding us down to the runway wow and they kind of gave us thumbs up from the from the cockpit and I thought this is this real I mean this is crazy and so it it it means that it means the world to as as Frank knows it means the world to to uh the population the country that the people and you share that very special moment and with with with your country with your people forever you know nobody can take it away anymore and and uh um and that’s what what they going to yeah what what they’re going to face on Sunday they have this this kind of a moment that is so so rarely with you and and you just wish them all you wish them all go and grab it Go and grab it don’t let somebody else take it away from from you but for sure just give everything you can in order to to make your country now happy people remember in France for example where they were in The Liberation of Paris in 19 in 4045 where they were when the first man um put his first step on the moon what they were doing and they remember July 12th 1998 and it’s crazy but they remember that because it’s a happy moment and the happy moment for the nation and they will never be forgotten by the by the population until the end and I’m that’s exactly what Jan was explaining for Germany in ’96 if I have know if I have known him and him and I have known you were going to talk about the World Cup that t is he July the 12th we by the way it’s going to be worse tomorrow because he’s tomorrow July 12 tomorrow I know it is we wouldn’t have come in today if we knew you were going to bring that I’m not coming in tomorrow now on don’t don’t show you be not stop piping on but this bloody World Cup BL bloody World Cup he’s actually doing a diversion so we don’t have to dwell too much 96 I want to give you a little bit of salt of what England can feel tomorrow Sunday sorry thank you FR thank you but whatever I’m going to talk to the Spanish there was a winning penalty shootout though back in 96 for the English it was what there was a winning penalty shootout in 96 against the Spanish the Spanish the span was you was you off the field we didn’t no we didn’t miss a penalty then and we didn’t miss a penalty against Germany as well they scored five out of five both times but of course GTH missed the sixth but um did you take one no it was all set in stone already all the penalty takers from um cuz most of them were glad about that how come with your Technique and everything you didn’t get those penalty wasn’t trusted Frank was not trusted I understand Frankie he went to the back I was terrified Frank and ran away did you watch the final though Maka 96 um yes I did it was the Golden Goal final or the silver goal whatever it was called back then didn’t it yes I I of course I watched the I left straight away at the day after the we were we were knocked out by by J side and I just went home but yes of course I watched the final yes I think uh yes definitely there you go all right let’s get your predictions then got some predictions coming in for the upcoming Final apparently so I think so oh no we don’t actually we want to ask Frank predicts that he won the World Cup you know why because we’re going to see you guys before but we might not see Jurgen before it so Jurgen what’s your prediction for the final 2-1 England go on yeah again get oh come on y de Heavens are it’s com he spends he spends a few months in North London and now he’s gone for the English yeah we’ll take it Whatever Whatever It Takes uh lovely stuff okay I’m going to enjoy the pain Mark Mark what’s your prediction are you going to bring us back down to earth you want me to be honest I think Spain are going to win 2-0 sadly I just think Spain are a better team England need to be so full of energy to press high and keep it and sustain it for 1990 minutes and they haven’t got the legs they were struggling last night after an hour so as much as i’ like England to win it I think Spain are going to win it sorry that’s all right mate that’s at Le at least you’re honest mate that’s the most like Danny is saying every time England’s going to lose and because we all know that he doesn’t want that but he gives a result to not put a curse on them you know whatever well there’ll be more predictions to come obviously heads and hearts heads and hearts say different different things [Music]

ESPN FC’s Kay Murray, Craig Burley, Steve McManaman, Frank Leboeuf, Mark Ogden and Jurgen Klinsmann discuss England’s journey to the EURO 2024 Final against Spain as well as the health of Harry Kane and Gareth Southgate’s strategies.

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