England’s crushing defeat and Gareth Southgate’s legacy | Kaveh Solhekol reacts to Euro 2024 final

England’s crushing defeat and Gareth Southgate’s legacy | Kaveh Solhekol reacts to Euro 2024 final

well look I think uh for England to win uh tonight two things had to happen they had to play very well and also Spain had to have a bad day at the office unfortunately England didn’t play very well and Spain certainly did not have a bad day at the office let’s deal in facts the facts are that the best team in this tournament have been Spain they’ve won all their games uh they’ve beaten England they’ve beaten Germany they’ve beaten uh Italy they’ve beaten France they were on the harder side of the draw and unquestionably Spain are the best side in this tournament I think over my shoulder you can see the fireworks going off I’m getting used to this this is like the fourth or uh fifth time that I’ve been standing outside a stadium when somebody has been getting the trophy and the winning players have been getting their medals I was in exactly this same position a few years ago in Qatar when lonel Messi was lifting the World Cup few years later here I am again the man on the outside while all the celebrations are going on inside I suppose in a way in a very very small way uh I feel what some of those England players may be feeling because they got so close again but it just wasn’t to be I’ve got to tell you from where I was sitting inside that Stadium I never got the feeling that England work going to become European Champions for the first time yes there were passages of the game where England were on top and they were playing well but for my money from where I was sitting it always looked like Spain had enough to step up another gear and win this game and that’s exactly what they’ve done and there you have it Queen booming out we are the champions unfortunately the Champions are not England the champions of Europe yet again are Spain and they deserve that Victory and yet going back to what you were saying about you never felt that Spain wouldn’t win the title when England made the substitution and it worked and they got their goal and there was a little bit more movement up front we here in the studio and mlan and I were thinking well maybe yeah no when olle Watkins came on uh straight away he had an impact you had some Pace up front then Cole Palmer came on one of my favorite players at this tournament he’s just got that aura around him that Swagger nothing seems to phase him and there was pandemonium among the England supporters when Cole Palmer scored and you thought England are back in this England are on the front foot we’re seeing the real England here uh Gareth Southgate keeps talking about the fact that he wants his players to show the real version of themselves and for a few minutes we saw that but unfortunately their period of dominance didn’t last last very long and it was Spain who were creating the better chances and it was Jordan pford who was pulling off save after save uh the Spain goalkeeper really didn’t have that much to do and you just take you have to sometimes take your hats off and say the better team W Spain deserve to win this tournament now I think over the next few days we have to look back and say overall how do you judge England’s the performance at this tournament because yes they gave us some special memories yes there were some special goals some brilliant comebacks but overall uh was the performance in the group stages good enough uh were some of the performances in The Knockout stages really good enough did they always have to go behind uh before turning things around and I think when you go behind against the Spain side yes maybe you’ll get an equalizer but you have to be a very very good side to beat Spain and unfortunately Spain were just too good tonight the other question obviously is what now for garyth Southgate and the fa I think are feeling quite pleased with themselves that they have the contract until December which gives everybody plenty of breathing space plenty of thinking time do you expect them to use quite a bit of that time I think GIS Southgate will come to a pretty quick decision uh he’s not going to take months to this decide what he wants to do next let’s look at this from the fa’s position the fa are delighted with Gareth Southgate they’re delighted with the fact that okay he hasn’t won a major trophy but he’s got them to uh consecutive Euros finals World Cup semi-finals quarterfinals behind the scenes with all the underage uh teams there are brilliant things happening coaching coaches you know uh the fa and English football is in a lot better State than it was before Gareth Southgate became the England manager so from the fa’s point of view there’s a contract there ready to be signed they are desperate for Gare Southgate to stay but on the other hand they also respect him uh they understand what being the England manager entails how much it takes out of you the amount of personal criticism you have to put up with and I think if Gareth was to turn around to them in the next few days and say look you know what uh I’ve had a great time I gave this job everything I could okay with didn’t win a trophy but I’m proud of what I’ve achieved and I’m leaving English football in a much better State than it was in uh when I arrived I think the fa would say to him Gareth we respect your decision thank you very much for everything you’ve done uh for English football you’re always welcome back at Wembley you’re always welcome back at St George’s par you’re always welcome back at the fa and Gareth Southgate will go down in history as one of the very best England managers even though he didn’t win a trophy but I think I think we should give Gareth that time and space to make up his own mind what he wants to do looking at him over the past few weeks past few months and having seen him up close at major tournaments I think he just deserves a rest and I think he needs to maybe have a holiday uh decide what he wants to do and I am sure that if he walks away from the England job after he’s had his holiday he will be a man who will be in demand he will have top clubs after him he will have uh National associations after him as well because the gis Southgate story is not going to end here tonight and it’s not going to end even if he decides that he wants to walk away from the England job [Music]

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Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol discusses England’s crushing loss to the hands of Spain in Euro 2024 final, and reflects on what Gareth Southgate’s legacy will be if he is to leave his role as manager of the England Men’s National Football Team.

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