What a misery! Jamie Carragher ‘fears’ for Gareth Southgate, says England’s semi-final hopes are ‘lofty’, their warm-up friendlies were a ‘waste of time’ and centre backs aren’t good enough to win Euro 2020
- Jamie Carragher shared his thoughts England and their likelihood at Euro 2020
- Carragher says making the last four will require an ‘outstanding performance’
- He fears for Gareth Southgate if anything less is deemed as failure by the nation
- He claims the knock-on effect of the pandemic made their friendlies pointless
- Carragher also says they are lacking the quality of John Terry and Rio Ferdinand
- Find out the latest Euro 2020 news including fixtures, live action and results here.
Jamie Carragher has handed England a reality check on the eve of Euro 2020 by suggesting the nation’s expectations of reaching the semi-finals are ‘lofty’.
Carragher, who won 38 England caps in his international career, has sounded the alarm over England’s centre back situation, their lack of preparation and a lack of quality compared to the likes of tournament giants France and Portugal.
England kick of their Euro 2020 campaign on Sunday, June 13, when they face Croatia in their opening group game and Carragher fears England fans will be deflated by their ‘failure’ to win the tournament.
Jamie Carragher (above) has handed England a reality check on the eve of Euro 2020
Speaking to The Telegraph, Carragher shared his thoughts on the expectation surrounding Southgate’s England squad this summer.
He said: ‘England’s participation in major international tournaments tends to follow the same pattern. Anticipation, over-expectation, disillusionment and recrimination. Usually, this is caused by the misguided belief the national team is ready to win the World Cup or European championship.’
He fears for Gareth Southgate if anything less than the semi-final is deemed as failure
Carragher says making the last four will require an ‘outstanding performance’ from England
‘Making the last four of the European championships will require an outstanding performance, so the nation would be wise to remind itself of England’s current standing and the challenge ahead before over-optimism takes hold. I fear for him [Southgate] and his team if anything less will be considered a poor return.’
Carragher also highlighted the affect the pandemic has had on England’s preparation heading into the tournament.
The former Liverpool players says ‘no one has suffered as much as England’ when it comes to the knock-on effect of the pandemic has had on the football calendar.
He also worries that England have been affected more than any other nation by the pandemic
Both the Champions League and Europa League saw 10 of England’s starting IX feature again
Seven of England’s starting XI played in the Champions League, while three featured for Manchester United in their Europa League clash.
Some of those players included Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire.
As a result, Carragher believes England’s warm-up games were a ‘waste of time’ because Southgate was forced to rest pivotal players to prevent injuries ahead of the tournament.
He said: ‘England’s warm-up games a waste of time, Southgate in the unprecedented position of being unable to select a line-up resembling that which will kick off the tournament. The inability to fine-tune is a serious issue heading into Sunday’s game, adding to the injuries affecting two of his most senior players and leaders, Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson.’
With Maguire’s fitness still under question, he worries England will be exposed at the back
He claims Southgate’s squad is lacking a centre-back of the calibre of d Rio Ferdinand
With Harry Maguire’s fitness still under question, Carragher worries England will be exposed at the back.
He claims Southgate’s squad is lacking a centre-back of the calibre of John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.
He said: ‘Southgate will look at the balance of his squad and lament not having centre-backs of the calibre of John Terry and Rio Ferdinand. In Maguire’s absence he is relying on back-up defenders whose teams finished 11th, 13th and 16th in the Premier League last season. That means he is heading into the competition mulling over an experimental backline’.
Despite this, Carragher insists he is not trying to ‘deliberately be pessimistic or downbeat’ and that he is just formulating an opinion based off ‘the background in which this tournament is being played, the strength of the main contenders and likely opponents during the knockout stage.’
