- Gareth Southgate confirms England are ready to face Holland in Euro 2024 semi-finals
- The Three Lions are looking to make history by winning their first championship.
- The manager is under a lot of pressure.
England manager Gareth Southgate insists he is ready to lead his Three Lions to make history at Euro 2024 and is well prepared to face the Netherlands in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
Since the start of the tournament. Southgate has come under heavy criticism from fans after England’s poor form, winning just one and drawing two in the โปรโมชั่น ufabet group stage, and narrowly beating Slovakia in extra time in the last 16 before beating Switzerland on penalties in the quarter-finals.
England lost on penalties to Italy in the Euro 2020 final, having previously reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup but lost to Croatia and were knocked out by France in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.
“One of our strengths over the years has been to have less fear, to show less nervousness,” the 53-year-old coach said ahead of the team’s clash with the Netherlands. “But at the beginning of the tournament the expectations are very high and the external criticism affects us a lot.”
“You always have to look at the team’s readiness and the balance of the team and whether the changes will make the team better or not. But when you are in the game. You have to read the situation, see the direction of the game and you have to make decisions.”
Meanwhile, Southgate is under intense pressure, with his future uncertain after his contract expires in 2024 and no sign of the Football Association (FA) opening talks with him on a new deal.
As England captain Harry Kane of Bayern Munich said: “I just think during the game you need experience, you need leadership and I will do that. But at the end of the day it’s about going out on the pitch and grabbing your chances with both hands.”
“To reach the European Championships in a row would be an incredible achievement and we have a chance to do it. However, as we perform better. The expectations are higher. Sometimes the added pressure can be a motivation for everyone.”
“It depends on how you look at it. Some people will use it as motivation, some people will block it and focus on what they have to do. Everyone is different. From a team perspective. We know what we have to do to achieve. We have a very important game. A really difficult game that we have to prepare well for and I think we are ready for it,” the former Spurs striker said.
England have never won the Euros before, with the closest they came as runners-up in 2020. Southgate and his team have the chance to make history this time around. But the Netherlands will have the first answer to whether the Three Lions can make it.