Watkins Stunner Fires England To The Final! | EURO 2024

Watkins Stunner Fires England To The Final! | EURO 2024

[Music] hello and welcome to the resty football Englander into the final of Euro 2024 it’s the first final of a major tournament the men have ever reached on foreign soil what a time to be alive uh England will play Spain on Sunday 14th of July in Berlin as they reach successive European Championship Finals I think it’s safe to say we’ll do a little bit of celebrating this evening and mic is joining me um from from back home uh Micah wow what an evening what a finale what a evening what a day I was I’ve been nervous all day being totally honest I have I really have because we know we’ve got the players to do it we know they’ve got players who can hurt you as well but was we going to turn up was we going to be brave was we going to be high and in the first half we were all of those things Phil folden in the number 10 was was brilliant again on the half turn doing all the things that we’ve been yearing for for so long um gay comes back into the team has another outstanding game uh I I just thought the whole balance to the team was just brilliant and to see them go out there and and actually just put a show on for everyone especially in the first half second half not so much it was just joyous it was great to see and you know when we talk about England and we’ve had to be negative at times and I will Hammer home the point we don’t want to be negative we try to pick the bones out of what we see and analyze the game but for them to go out there and give it the role I just thought it was a brilliant spectacle for all of their hard work that they’ve put in not just in the tournament but throughout the season some of these players have played 50 60 games and to get to a final it’s just remarkable yeah I’m totally with you the first half I thought really good football foden was unlucky keeper made a good save incredible shot that hit the woodwork the clearance off the line all from foden um I thought Mayu was again like he just bosses the place he keeps the ball really well they were playing great second half went flat again a little bit like the last game um against Switzerland um started sitting a little bit deep couldn’t get behind them it was kg everyone was playing a little bit cautious and that’s understandable to a degree I’ve played in these games no one wants to make a mistake um the stakes are so high you know we all started to call for changes again needed freshed legs and and he made the right calls Gareth made the right calls Michel he he did but you know I’ve been crying for OE Watkins all tournament because I think he gives you something different he actually runs behind people Harry Kane never does that um and it was a great run for the goal I mean let’s talk about the goal because that was like a magic magic magical moment wasn’t it I just like the fact that when we talked about using Subs the use of them and how they can impact and affect the game and you know when you bring off Kane and you bring off foden and foden was quieter in that second half and we always said Kane can get as a goal and I’ve got to give credit to you again for this you you talked about the position and and the stretching of the opposition and it’s exactly what you say dead when you’ve got players in the Midfield obviously folden was off the pitch so you have Bellingham and Co Palmer in the number 10 if you have a striker who can stretch and especially from a a defensive point of view as well it gives me a headache if everything’s in front of me it’s easy and then the link up we know K Palmer can pass we know he can shoot but it was the weight of the ball which was perfect and the timing of the run then the touch from Watkins then the Finish to shoot across the goalkeeper with Pace it was just poetry and motion it really was yeah I’m a presenter rather than a pundit because I don’t understand certain aspects of the game defensively even Midfield play to a degree but the one thing I do know about is how to play up front and how as a striker you can help your team and that’s why I’ve been calling for oy Watkins and saying that it was you know you can take your main man off you could even start with Ole Watkins is not probably got the all round finishing ability that Harry Kane’s got although boy what a finish that was but he gives you different things you can press dynamically he can spin behind and as he did all of a sudden what happens with a striker that forces Defenders to go towards their own goal is it creates more space behind for those Midfield players with all the talent in the world that they’ve got the Bellingham fodm was obviously off the pitch but in this case it was Palmer so it gives you so much more in terms of overall for the team and it’s the team game and it’s the team that’s most important thing not individuals and that’s why however difficult it is to say that’s why I kept saying that don’t rule out that option because it’s really important and so it came to pass I mean I was so pleased Ry Watkins though because what a season he’s had at Aston Villa um so many goal involvements both goals and and goals created he runs himself ragged every game that I see and he gets behind people he gets behind people and he deserved his moment um I think it was the latest um goal ever scored in a in a a semifinal of either the world cup or the Euros obviously within 90 minutes um there’s been goal scored in extra time of course but um it was just such I mean just went Bonkers in here I don’t know about you yeah I’m I’m home alone I went to go visit my my dad and my brother earlier on but I’m home alone so I was just celebrating and shouting um in terms of that moment for for Watkins though is the fact that afterwards when he had his interview um he was basically saying he was waiting for this moment and that’s what you want from your subs not and I don’t even like the word Subs we should have starters and we should have finishers people who finished the game and have that sort of mindset to make an impact and not sulk on the bench and think I’m only getting certain amount of minutes it’s about can I change a game and that’s exactly what he did and like you said for Aston Villa this season it’s been brilliant and he carried it on I’ve got massive respect for Harry Kane he’s he’s one of the greatest finishers and unbelievable player England’s top scorer but when I saw Watkins coming on and I didn’t know who it was for that stage I actually jumped out my chair and I went yes now this is your opportunity you you don’t get that many in life as a striker once you’re in there grab it grasp it make it happen and that’s what he did he made it happen I mean it’s the run the touch I tell you what the angle that the shot the only place it can go in if he hits it sweet as a nut is in that bottom corner and he he carried it out perfectly you know what’s so great about this this this tournament because I don’t think the quality has been that great throughout the tournament with we thought Germany was a good side I think Spain have been over Austria impressed the way they was pressing and and Switzerland with their sort of rotation but if you look back at the tournament every player sort of had their big moment whether it be a pford big save whether it be gayi coming into and starting in a a major tournament after Harry MaGuire sort of get getting injured he’s been brilliant gay in every game he’s played you’ve got Trent who’s scoring you know winning penalties you got Mayu who wasn’t even considered for England a couple of months before he comes to the tournament he comes in and he just absolutely lights it up Watkins gets his goal tonight Tony has the the the no look penalty Kane scored his goals bellingham’s had the over rad bicycle kick whatever you want to call it sackers had the the moment when curled it into the so it’s all it’s almost it’s a team game we’re not just relying on one it’s a squad game it’s a squad game nowadays as well isn’t it exact s game correct yeah it really is and and they’ve got themselves to the final um and it’s it’s not easy and we you know when you’re watching you always get a bit grumpy when you have a flat spell in a game which we did in the second half but you know the Dutch are a decent team you know they’ve got a lot of good players in there they were well organized I thought kumman made good changes because they were struggling in the first half they really were and and I think we have to say at this point we have to say England got their lucky break and I don’t think I can remember that happening very often in tournaments over the years with and I’ve always said to win a tournament you need occasionally to get lucky we haven’t had that in In My Time We Lost on penalties against the Germans we at the inside of the post and the ball came out in extra time with Chris W um I could remember the hand of God in 86 he got away with one I mean this decision there Frank Lampard knocks one over the line and it’s not given we’ve had so many decisions go against us even going back to Qatar in the World Cup the quarterfinal there the foul I think on sacka and they broke away and scored the penalty that was clear and obvious was wasn’t given I think also against sacka in that first half and we haven’t had the breaks but with the V decision tonight there’s no question we got a break I mean I’m sorry but you know however biased you may be I don’t I I can’t see how that that is a penalty it was shocking it was a shock it was a shocking decision whether your your football or you play when you suppor in England tonight that the rules o of the game was just it was pathetic to see that decision and when they sent him to the screen I just knew he was going to overturn he can still go to the screen and stick with your original decision I think I I don’t think it helped the fact that Kane was rolling around and he might have been in pain because if all as as footballers had that where just catches the bottom foot at times and it is when he follow through with a shot you do hit someone well I think he was genuinely hurt exactly yes but CU it it sort of brought attention to it a little bit more but I don’t understand what Dum freeze is supposed to do there he’s he’s basically he’s not gone and lunged at Kane he sort of kept his distance put his foot up to block the shot Kane’s had the shot followed through it’s just a collision after the the shot it one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen in top level football if the referee have given it on the pitch you you would wonder whether V would have overturned it I it had to I would have overturned it it it wasn’t it just wasn’t pen it just wasn’t a penalty and I know Allan said in the group earlier on you know if the ref would have given it it would have been over forget that it wasn’t a penalty fact it’s not it’s not the case of oh well if that and that that is the problem with v and we’ve talked about it’s where you oh well the refs give it so it’s not clear and obvious that clear and obvious is nonsense it rather is or it isn’t it’s as simple as that and that wasn’t a penalty but as England fans as Englishmen we will take it of course of course we’ve had so many bad decisions I had them myself those H those things happen in the games and you you take your luck when you get it and I’ve said so many times to actually get through to a final or even to win a competition you need things to go for you you’ve you know and and they have done with it you know the the long throw the flick on I mean a bit of Brilliance from Bellingham things happen in a tournament and you know if the referee and the V mess up and it’s in your favor then you just take it that’s all you do and and Kane took it and it was a great penalty because the keeper went the right way um as any keeper would go that way I think against Harry Kane but he he backs himself doesn’t he yeah he backs himself and that’s why we always say he should be on the pitch we’ve always would start with with with hurri kanane wouldn’t we because of the quality possessions in terms of the finishing ability but there’s nothing wrong with chopping and changing it I think um in terms of his overall form we know he can do better but he still scor he still scoring and that’s all a striker has to do of course we want to see more at times but who cares we’re in we’re in the final and that’s the most important thing how about this mik England have won five of their last six games after considering the first goal at the Euros the exception um seeing them ultimately progress anyway on penalties was against Switzerland in the quarterfinal so that that shows resilience doesn’t it and character I think that’s what we’ve talked about with with with Southgate in in terms of he brought a togetherness um when we talk about Southgate tactically we say Okay can he make substitutions a little bit earlier but you can’t doubt the spirit that this group have and even the fact that when we’ve talked about them in the media the way they’ve sort of backed each other up and it’s not almost like picking someone or he could do better I even remember earlier on before the tournament and Walker said something well Jack greish he hasn’t performed at the level there’s other people who have performed at a better level I’m I was thinking wow like okay he’s backing the players within within the squad and that’s his teammate who has to go back to M I didn’t necessarily agree with it but they’ve got that Siege mentality within this the squad and he could just see it one thing you got to say about this this England team they actually can def defend yes they can defend which was the big worry before the tournament wasn’t it remember exactly they can defend as as a unit I mean yes we want to see a little bit more going forward when we can but yeah in terms of the togetherness the the spirit all those those words they’ve got it in abundance and long may continue because he just one game away from becoming Heroes well first ever english team to win a competition a major competition on foreign soil it’s never happened wow never happened obviously the women went close in the world cup and they also played against Spain in the final don’t forget um hopefully hopefully we get a different result in the final um seon um I mean when he banged that in the top corner it was like oh God blamy here we go I mean it was hell of a goal wasn’t it Dean got in a bit of a pickle with the ball yeah which is which is these happen M I don’t I don’t think it was too much of a he just took a little bit of a Bad Touch he probably could have just laid it off first time you don’t expect someone to to bang it from that angle especially the form that pigford’s in as well but I I thought kumman made these changes a little bit too early I wouldn’t have brought off Marlon because he give him the empathy I thought the same thing I thought because forward and there was sort of just boxed in I agree in the second half tactic when he dropped uh he brought verman on alongside um reinders and shoot shouted but that was that was when depay got injured wasn’t it went off them on yes so so when depay got injured obviously uh shooted verman and Reyers in that Midfield area just stopped them Channels cuz when you’re looking at tactically you’re thinking okay you’ve got rice and Mayu and you’ve got foden and Bellingham so in the middle of the park the out outnumbered and they didn’t know quite what to do they sort of was going to to press Mayu and going to press rice at times but then foden was getting balls in in them pockets and then Bellingham was going towards the left hand side and the just couldn’t deal with it they brought on veg horse to tried to go more direct I would say and the combinations going forward just wasn’t as the only thing that worried me Mich about you is cuz they were they had some big units on that pitch yes set pieces they were a threat weren’t they there was couple of headers went close Over the Bar um pford made a good save from a really good delivery free kick I think it bounced off it was Van Dyke was it it was from a deep I mean they were a threat when you’ve got you know big players like van djk and veg horse in particular yeah Dum freeze hit the the bar I think as well or just o just over in in one of them set pieces as well but all in all the Netherlands were like I thought they’ve got players who could hurt you not necessarily a a a great team but if you look at the 90 minutes throughout England deserved it yeah certainly for the first half what why do you think they started to struggle a bit in the second half is it I I just think it was a tactical switch from from the Netherlands adding that extra midfielder in there Simmons sort of was playing in in the hole in the F in the first half and then he went bit more to to the right hand side and I think moving it forward tactically so when you you’re playing and obviously tripier came off for Luke Shaw and when Luke Shaw was going forward on the left and when saaka was going forward on the right do you remember in the Switzerland game where you had uh Rodriguez who was overlapping yeah the the wing back to get crosses in what was happening at times it was coming out to gayi and because it was played a little bit too slow round the the bat they could get set as a team and if you there was one opportunity do you remember when Cal Walker made the overlapping run it got played and sack’s offside goal close some yes sometimes you need the if you’re going to play three at the back one of your center backs to make forward runs that can open up spaces for the rest of otherwise you end up with three players against nobody exactly and the other thing I would say is I go back to that point about it’s quite easy to defend against a team that has no threat behind you so you can actually squeeze up and and therefore there’s not much space and if you if the players haven’t got kind of the alternative to knock the ball behind therefore you end up playing it square and safe and slowly and kind of lethargically around so I think that was just just a a tactical thing but you know but whether you think Gareth made his changes too late or not he made the right changes decisive changes and the two players that he brought on the two players that brought on were the two players that one created the goal and the other scored the goal so you have to give Gareth enormous credit for making the right calls it’s not easy bringing your captain off and your top scorer it’s not easy it’s not it’s not at all but it was the right move it was it was the right move I mean it probably could have done a little bit early but in in the grand scheme of things it did it didn’t matter um like you said they linked up for the goal and it was it was a right move a brave move that we’ve all been calling for early on in the competition but it got there in the end and it’s it’s easy for us to talk isn’t it it really is because when you’re on on Pitch side even when you’re a player or you watching a game we all see the game a little bit differently so when he’s in the Heat of the Moment he’s probably got all these things going through his head and he’s not sometimes decisive enough but he’s probably just waiting for that moment and thank God he got it right tonight you mentioned him in the first half but kobby Mayu Goodness Me goodness me what a footballer it’s actually mindblowing I know and I don’t want to go over the overboard but for someone who has not really been in the England setup to he was supposed to play the year before at man United but he got a bad injury so he came on the season later his first couple of games I was thinking wow amazing that he made a mistake in one of his earlier games where he give the ball away and was thinking okay is he is he still too young is he ready he’s a bit naive but he carried on doing the same things getting on the ball in areas where a lot of midfielders will shy away from it he’s so elegant on the ball it can drop his shoulder it can drive forward and he’s just so calm he’s playing like he’s a 35y old veteran of the game and he’s so young he’s just been a real key part to that that spark that England needed not just in Midfield but the team needed in terms of adding a different Dynamic to to what we needed he’s incredible I mean he’s we talked didn’t we about um lamin yamal and obviously he’s unbelievably talented but in a different sort of way Mayu is incredibly impressive and another teenager it’s kind of a tournament of emerging Stars which is something that that you want to see um and obviously we know he can coope with the Cup Final I mean he played against Man City and scored that goal and um performed brilliantly I think he won the man of the match in that final um nothing seems to phase him fearlessness of Youth I guess yeah fearlessness but just also believing in his his own quality and not sort of if you hear him in his interviews he he doesn’t get too excited he’s just calm his interviews are just like how he is on the pitch calm composed but that little bit of confidence as well to say okay I know what my ability is I’m going to show you what I can do no matter who I’m playing against so yeah is really great to see um and long may it continue yeah I love Dolly Watkins interview as well after the game you know he says I swear I swear I swear on my children’s lives I swear on my children’s lives I I told Cole Palmer I said you’re going to set me up and I’m amazing that enthusiasm I mean he’s so happy wasn’t he and quite rightly so I mean quite rightly so um I think we’ll finish there Ollie OE OE oi oi oi hey what a finish we’ll get Alan Shear’s View tomorrow he’s um back in Berlin so that’ll be interesting as well uh goodbye from me and goodbye from me come on England come on [Music]

Are England now hitting form at just the right time? Have they finally had the lucky break they’ve been waiting for at a major tournament? Dare we dream?

Gary and Micah are in a jubilant mood as they react to England making it through to successive European Championship finals..
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00:00 – Intro
01:00 – Immediate Reactions
09:00 – England’s Lucky Break
15:15 – Simons’ Goal
15:50 – Netherlands’ Changes
20:40 – Kobbie Mainoo