- Keane feels Gareth Southgate is ‘overthinking’ his tactics with England at Euro 2024
- Neville worries that England is on a dark path unless they solve their problems quickly.
- Listen to It’s all starting! What Jude Bellingham needs to do to improve his game
Roy Keane has criticized what he sees as a hesitant England at Euro 2024.
He believes Gareth Southgate is “thinking too much” and failing to unlock “courage and bravery” in his pride of lions.
Meanwhile, Gary Neville has made a worrying forecast for the rest of the tournament, unless things change quickly, and believes England’s “embarrassment of riches” has become an obstacle.
His scathing rebukes come after England drew 1-1 in their second match with Euro 2020 semi-finalists Denmark, which still leaves the Three Lions top of Group C.
“Courage and bravery, we’re not really seeing it,” Keane told ITV Sport.
Roy Keane believes Gareth Southgate is ‘thinking too much’ and England are playing ‘without courage or bravery’
Gary Neville believes England’s array of attacking talent has become a ‘problem’ for Southgate
‘There’s something wrong with the balance. Bellingham waves his arms.
‘This is a big test for Gareth. It seems like he’s overthinking things.
Pundits were quick to attack England following their 1-0 victory over Serbia to open the campaign, accusing England of being inventive and lacking the drive to score a second.
Jude Bellingham scored the goal in that game, but players such as Phil Foden on the left wing and Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield came into scrutiny.
Still, England have a checkered history in the European Championship and Southgate is the only manager to have led them to a victory in the opening match, something he has done twice.
Gary Neville said: “They are going to put it through the mill in the next few days.”
“We hope they win it, but it’s the first time I feel like it’s in conflict with this embarrassment of riches.” It’s causing him more problems.
‘You need to look at it very closely in the next 24 hours. They’re not playing particularly well, so they need to clean up.
Southgate watched his team draw 1-1 with Denmark on Thursday night.
England top Group C, but have struggled to convince with their performances.
Harry Kane put England ahead but was then sent off and criticized for a lack of pressure.
Rio Ferdinand said he would have ‘screamed’ at Kane at half-time for not having the same ‘workload’ as the others
‘Something has to change here. This ends badly as it is.
The problem of how to fuse a front four of Harry Kane, Foden, Bukayo Saka and Foden, as well as the question of how much to include stars such as Cole Palmer, has been one of England’s talking points before and during Euro 2024.
Pundits felt Foden improved by taking on a more central role against Denmark, but criticized Kane for dropping too deep and not pressing with enough verve.
At half-time against Denmark, Rio Ferdinand told BBC Sport: “I would go crazy (with Kane). I would be shouting. I couldn’t allow my centre-forward not to do the same workload as the other players.
‘I need to see the same workload and intensity (from Kane). Press the center back from him like I’m getting him as an England defender!’
Micah Richards even asked to be replaced by Ollie Watkins, which he was after 70 minutes, a decisive move for which Southgate was praised.
