Gareth Southgate emotional press conference after England’s Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain

Gareth Southgate emotional press conference after England’s Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain

I think firstly congratulations to Spain they were the best team in the tournament um they were they were the best team tonight um our players have been incredible they’ve given um Everybody some incredible nights they couldn’t have given any more in terms of their effort their desire their character um tonight we fell short we didn’t keep the ball well enough um we we actually defended well in the first half in particular limited their possibilities but we we couldn’t play through the counter press well enough um and we actually didn’t really use the ball well until we were a goal down then we had a a decent period in the game we got The Equalizer but I think the physical toll of the issues we came into the tournament with the extra time periods and then tonight having as little of the ball as we did ultimately that took a big toll and I think uh was part of the reason why at the end you know legs started to go and you start to make uh mistakes but you know the players have pushed it till the 85th minute of the final game they’ve been incredible really M obviously made progress in your time to have that yeah the messaging was exactly what I’ve just said to you guys um very proud of the group of players um they couldn’t have given me anymore they couldn’t have given the country anymore so uh ultimately we we lost to the better side and um we have to reflect on you know um how that happened but it it’s very clear in my mind the game um we as I said it for me the key was possession of the ball tonight and we didn’t have enough control commiserations what was the thought process between changing back to the back four after the back five been so effective in The Knockout well if um if you look at Spain they play Wingers wide on the touch line and a number nine so you can’t play three against three at the back is too far if you play five then they pin you three with five uh they pin your five with three and you’ll be completely overloaded in Midfield so the only solution is to play with the back four and then you have to work out the pressure in front of that so the same as they were um they were a plus one at the back against us um their counter pressure was better they have slightly different profile of players um and um yeah I I didn’t think that that caused us a problem we wanted to keep the same shape with the ball that we’ve had in the previous games because that’s been effective so we were you know we were trying to get into a three as much as we could but we didn’t have those longer periods of possession to be able to take control of the game and uh uh in the end I think that that was why the flow of the game was as it was the moments that were decisive um are probably a consequence of that flow of the game I think you mentioned the physical Target came into tournament know you said to TV about har Kan his Fitness was this was this a tournament too far from not a tournament too far but um I think so many of our players came in to the camp having missed the end of the season um you know with’ managed to get Luke through a 90 minutes when he hasn’t played for four months we’ve had kobby as a young player who’s done incredibly well um um but the amount of football he’s had this year Jude you could see we we were about to take off um because he looked you know he was cramping as well so that physical toll was definitely an issue for us with with others in the in the group as well um but of course that’s exacerbated when when you don’t keep the ball earlier in the game so yeah look it was there was a lot stacked against us tonight in terms of having a day left to recover from the previous game and and having had the extra time periods that we did but we have to hold our hands up Spain were better and um in the end um yeah that that that is the long and short of it hi what do you think was the problem with hurri kanane in this match just one shoot certain ball contacts what was the reason for that I I think that Harry has come into the tournament um having had an injury at the end of the season um he’s played a lot of minutes we’ve tried to manage those minutes as well as we could he’s led the team incredibly well you know we’ve lost a lot of leadership from the group um um with the injuries to Henderson and Maguire so a lot has fallen on on Harry’s shoulders um he’s done that exceptionally well we just felt that um we needed to get more pressure on their center backs and to have the option of a runner in behind which was why we uh we put OE Watkins on when we did Gentleman on the right here English been quite hard on you after this of loses but tomorrow s of them have the r you did also proud in them how does that make well um look I think the team have done the country proud um they’ve reached the first Final in uh away from England um a second Final in in two tournaments is incredible really they’ve played 14 matches in the European championships the last two European championships and we’ve lost in the last 5 minutes um of of the 14th game um we we weren’t beaten other than in penalties in that period it’s an incredible run so um but at the moment yeah I have to say in my head none of that matters because we we had an opportunity to win and um we haven’t been able to take it last three questions in the middle here hi hi G here H Spain Spain was dominating during one moment but after England scored it looked like England go one step further why was enable England to keep that momentum until until the end of the game thank you it’s a good question there was one moment where we actually had a throw in in there third of the pitch and we definitely had an opportunity to keep the ball in that area of the pitch and we we played backwards and out of the pressure and then there was a long period after that where we didn’t get the ball again so there was a a turning point if you like within that but I think in the main um at the end of the game the physical issues that we had probably um took their toll there were four or five players that we probably would ideally have refreshed at that point we were very close just before the goal went in we were trying to get Gallagher on for Bellingham uh because he was uh suffering with cramp um so as I said in the end I don’t think we had the energy and that was because of all the factors I’ve already mentioned gentleman I’m e t Sports China and in 2006 you played your last game with mburg and started your coaching career in 2016 you started Journey with the England national team what does this journey of 8 years mean to you personally and we will see you also in North America in 2026 thank you um well look it’s hard to uh to reflect so soon after a a defeat like this um of course to to take England to two finals is uh has never been done but yeah we we came here to win and um we haven’t been able to do that last question hey go uh k canning from from AFP just a bit on that last question you know does this I know it’s very raw at the moment but does this s of give you extra fire to think you’re so close to to keep going and you could get over the line and and win a World Cup or Euros in two or four years time yeah look I think um that’s not I I totally understand the question and um understand you need to answer ask it but um I need to have those conversations with important people behind the scenes and um I’m obviously not going to discuss that uh publicly first um without a doubt England have got some fabulous young players um and you know even the young ones now I’ve got a lot of experience of tournaments um so yeah many of this squad are going to be around in two four six years eight years time and uh um yeah we we are or we have now been consistently back in the in the matches that matter so it’s um it’s the last step that we haven’t been able to do [Music]

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Gareth Southgate’s full press conference after England’s 2-1 defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final. 

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