Why did England struggle to beat Slovakia, and what are their chances against Switzerland? Our expert panel tackles all the biggest talking points from Euro 2024.
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00:00this game and it could be anything it could be honestly it could be a 4-4 it could be a
00:05complete tactical battle but i think both sides will just absolutely go for it i think it's going
00:10to be the team of the game of the tournament so far by a long long way um i just i can't wait for
00:15it but this spain side if they get through this i think will win the tournament so i think i may
00:20have said it last time i was on that they're probably too good to be dark horses and not
00:26quite good enough to be favorites i was wrong absolutely wrong with that they are firmly among
00:30the favorites to win this tournament i'm fully aware come five o'clock on about seven o'clock
00:35on friday they could be out of the tournament but this is going to be a spain side that will
00:39grow and grow and grow because they are so good they have so many top top talents coming through
00:44that will just supplement what they've got um but uh yeah it's going to be an absolutely
00:48cracking game and i think spain ledger i've got to be honest i really do you're a winner
00:53comes from this time for me from this from this game whoever's going to win the euros for me will
00:56be from this there you have it's coming home as long as where your home is is spain fortune
01:06hello i'm matthew gregory and welcome back to another episode of we can be euros today we're
01:11going to run the rule over england's dramatic win over slovakia and look ahead to a quarterfinal
01:16clash for switzerland to help me pick through all of that and the rest of the biggest talking points
01:20from euro 2024 i'm joined as always by an expert panel the express and stars digital sports editor
01:26nathan judah is here as his northeast football reporter mark garruthers uh nathan it was a
01:31strange game in my mind because england controlled territory and possession for large periods but
01:35didn't look very dangerous but then got the job done anyway so should gareth southgate be largely
01:41happy with the fact that they got the win that they got there in the end or should he just be
01:45frustrated at the level of the performance can we look can we look i mean gareth southgate
01:55is either an absolute genius always the luckiest luckiest manager alive it's it's quite incredible
02:05i i don't know what to say to be honest gents because we keep on saying it's going to get
02:11better it's going to get better it's going to get better and it just gets worse look they're
02:17through they're through they've got they're in the quarterfinals so that's the most important
02:21thing of course it is but goodness me the manner of how they got there i'm i'm absolutely stunned
02:27and i understand that gareth southgate is taking positives with certain parts of the play
02:32but and i'm i'm a big defender of gareth southgate i really am you know i've worked with him for many
02:37years at middlesbrough um i know him pretty well and i think that actually he's done an incredible
02:43job off the pitch as well as on it for england he's the most successful england manager let's be
02:47honest in the last 40 or 50 years you've got to be said but he would have been remembered but
02:52if they'd gone out last night for those last 15 20 minutes and this tournament because it's been
02:57an absolute disgrace it's not been good enough at this in the same way those substitutions however
03:02late they may have been have saved him and goodness me those substitutions made the difference
03:08um but when you go in and you have that kind of possession like you're saying that 77 percent
03:13and not shot on target there's some huge things that need to be changed and need to be changed
03:18very very quickly because i tell you what switzerland will put england away if they play
03:23to the same level that they did last night i mean what what then would you show what do you think
03:27the big things that need changing are i mean are you looking at the substitutes we saw obviously
03:31cole palmer came on and really did i think make a difference i think he's very lively
03:35you know what is it that needs changing here because man for man this is a really good team
03:39and they did ultimately win and they did do a lot of things well like control the game even if they
03:44weren't setting up many chances to say the very least so what is it that needs to give here for
03:48england to sort of unlock their potential so i said i mean i discussed with i was i was on
03:53luckily enough with you on with yourself and mark you know a couple of weeks ago we discussed about
03:57balance and there's no balance there and when you decide to take luke shaw who has not played
04:03a competitive game since february when you have got kieran tripier who managed to get fit but of
04:08course you know he had his own issues in the season a brilliant start to the season and you know um
04:14mark will know a lot a lot more than me but obviously got the calf injury i think it was
04:17you know i think it was injured against wolves actually had a bad period and then you ask him
04:20to play you know as a left wing back we saw that shot you know in the first half as well which kind
04:25of summed up england's tournament so far um comes off injured there's no balance there and there's
04:30not going to be any balance because he has inexplicably take not taken a left back he's
04:35not taking venture what i can understand that but how tarik mitchell is not here and in this squad
04:40is absolutely ridiculous if you take a left back now then all of a sudden i think a lot you solve
04:44a lot of your problems straight away but you haven't so you've got to make do i think he's
04:49got to move kyle walker across i think that's the only way you can do it and i think you bring
04:52alexander arnold in i think you've got to get more balance you've got to bring anthony gordon
04:56or by the way i don't know how anti-gordon doesn't get on the pitch last night i just can't believe
04:59it cole palmer's got to stay in and for me i think that you've got to still stop telling declan rice
05:05to to he's one of the he's the best number six in the world or arguably one of the best number
05:09six in the world it's not an eight or a ten why are you so far up the pitch you've got players
05:13to do that you've got your phil photos you've got your jude bellingham's to do that um you've got
05:17your essays to come and do that you can't have sa playing at left wing back you can't have
05:21sacca playing at left back like this is just insane to me that this is a knockout tournament
05:25this is taking place i mean i don't want to be a goal mike bassett but i think harry kane's got
05:29to have a partner up there um he might have to go for four two because it looks like kane doesn't
05:34look fit to me it looks like he's he's dropping deeper he's a 10 if you need a number now i need
05:39a target man whether that'll be ivan tody whether that's you know i i don't know it's it's so
05:44frustrating i think maybe maybe phil photo might have to take a seat in this one but i think you've
05:49got to play gordon i think you've got to play palm i think you've got to play trend because
05:52this just isn't working sorry sorry to rant sorry it looks to me as if there's no there's no
05:58structure it looks to me that there's no plan they're playing off the cuff it's just it's more
06:02reactive than proactive and i think that's a big criticism of england during this tournament as i
06:06look at other sides you know the the genuine best side here spain's your germany's there's a plan
06:12there's a structure you know you can see they are um making things happen rather than waiting for
06:17them to happen i actually thought england looked better and it was probably out of desperation when
06:21they went to three at the back and i think there's something in that you know maybe kyle walker
06:26playing as a right-sided center back and then playing as a left wing back if they're going to
06:31go on the front foot um you know alexander arnold could come in at right wing back when you get the
06:35best out of him going forwards and you've got a bit of pace and cover with walker as a right-sided
06:39center back but at the minute i've got to say i thought ivan tony was very very good when he came
06:44on he gave england presence and authority a work rate and and just more strength at the top end of
06:51the pitch that for all of the quality we know harry kane has was just completely absent in the
06:56first three games now i will end that on a positive by saying at least they've got through they have
07:03shown that will that attitude to get through the desire to get through when things are going
07:08against them that's got to be used as a positive but i think we know when england come up against
07:13a semi-competent side and that's with all due respect the teams have played so far switzerland
07:18is the biggest banana skin you can find because they have been very organized very disciplined
07:24they have players that are looked so far beyond when we talk about top players they've got a lot
07:30of quality in that squad that just because they're not playing for fashionable clubs gets overlooked
07:34now there are big decisions for southgate to make he has to be decisive he has to be ruthless which
07:40has been people said before the tournament because james madison didn't go and jordan henson didn't
07:45go and jack greeley didn't go that he'd been ruthless but if i'm honest i don't really think
07:50any of the three deserve to go because they weren't good enough last season and we have players that
07:54are in those positions and the biggest thing for me with southgate is he has to start and learn to
07:58trust players that he hasn't really called upon yet so we talk about cole palmer we talk about
08:03kobe my new who i thought was great for great it's probably an oversell who was england's best player
08:08the best of a bad bunch for about 60 minutes and then which is understandable but he's got to start
08:15trusting players the gordon point that nathan made it baffles me how on earth that lad's only got
08:21what three minutes of a tournament when in those three minutes he managed to play part and creating
08:26a chance and he puts the opposition on the back foot straight away that game was absolutely crying
08:31out for him yesterday and if i was anthony gordon i'd be asking serious questions i mean i'll ask
08:36you a bit so you mentioned about the subs and the way southgate's used them or in the case of
08:40someone like gordon hasn't used them oh there's a lot of criticism during the game on social media
08:45from journalists and pundits about gary southgate making very few changes when things weren't going
08:50well we look like england weren't going to get through do you think southgate was vindicated or
08:55do you think he was lucky i think there's always an element of luck in any sub um to be honest but
09:01i think yesterday was lucky i don't know if you saw his comments after the game with ivan tony
09:05saying that ivan tony was annoyed that he got on as late and i'd understand why as well wouldn't
09:10you you'd be as well i mean the same with gordon earlier in the week where you know he puts him on
09:16with i think a minute that wasn't it 89 minutes and played that and played injury time and had
09:21a positive impact again i'll say i think tony has arguably done enough to get a start on saturday
09:26i don't for one minute think he will because i think southgate will stick with tried and trusted
09:30because that's what he does he's a safe manager and if there's one thing this england squad shows
09:34you is that they need to start taking more risks and that starts with the manager i mean i'll try
09:41and sort of bring this onto a slightly more positive note anyway by asking about jude
09:44bellingham's goal because nathan that's got to be for all that it came under fairly trying
09:49circumstances that's one of the great moments of being an england fan isn't it i mean how did
09:52you react when that went in because i mean i just screamed the house down nothing it's fair to say
09:58i've i've gone absolutely nuts um beyond nuts to be honest because that is an elite finish from
10:08a world-class player and it's look i don't want to go too crazy but if england and he answered
10:14the question actually very well jude bellingham we'll talk about maybe his post-match press
10:17comments in a little bit but he answered the very question well how how big a goal is that
10:21he said ask me in two weeks and i think that was the right way to say it because if england do
10:28create the impossible and they end up winning it then it's going to be remembered for that goal
10:31and the technique the audacity to attempt even attempt that just shows what a world-class player
10:37is because i think a lot of those players and a lot of those england players not just in this game
10:42but in the previous three have gone hiding a lot of big players went hiding last night
10:46cometh the hour cometh the man you've got someone to have the ability and the technique
10:52most importantly to attempt that in the highest highest highest level of risk is is just insane
10:59and kane was behind him at the time as well but a fabulous goal and that you you kind of knew i know
11:05that and then went to win the game but you kind of knew that the relief in these players and the joy
11:10and the emotion there's no joy in this team at this moment there's no they're not enjoying it
11:14these are young players okay they've got experience but you know that six six months ago 12 months ago
11:20they're happy they're having a great time you know they're doing all the celebrations it looks
11:23like they're just down there's no there's no joy there that you know there's no excitement and you
11:29know i get that when you're not playing well but at the same time i feel like they almost look like
11:34the last you know the last lot of guys you know your geraldine lamp house are just a
11:37through failure they're just you know they're just used products that aren't going to do anything and
11:43i feel like that needs to come back that that kind of joy needs to come back into this side because
11:47let's be honest there's certainly a tournament they're in a quarterfinal
12:07welcome back to we can be euros we're discussing
12:09england and we're about to look at their chances in the quarterfinals
12:17switzerland are up next for southgate and the boys in the quarterfinals on saturday
12:21expectations for the swiss were very high coming into this tournament there was a lot of public
12:25criticism of manager murat yakin including from some of his own players but they've played
12:29extremely well so far they just knocked italy out in the last 16. i mean watching that game mark i
12:35wasn't quite sure if how much of that was down to italy being completely terrible and how much
12:39of it was down to switzerland being good so how good do you think switzerland really are at this
12:43point i think the the answer to that one is that it was probably somewhere in the middle i think
12:48switzerland were were good but i also thought this is as poor italian side as we've seen
12:54for quite some time they have got a lot of absentees we should say that players that have
12:58been injured rule out the tournament but i still think we we should give switzerland a lot of
13:02credit i think they're a very very good side um i said in the first half this structure i think
13:07there's a lot of players who are vastly underrated you know we look at people granite jack at the
13:11end of his time in arsenal almost became a figure of a joke figure you know amongst premier league
13:17fans but you look at what he's done since he's gone to to leverkusen been exceptional for them
13:21controlled games for them um shakiri has always got that moment in him despite the fact that he
13:27didn't have a great end of his time in the premier league um i will stand on this soapbox and rant
13:32for the next 15 minutes fabian share is one of the most consistent defenders in the premier league i
13:37say that firmly with my northeast hat on i realize 100 this guy's a three i've got a selfie
13:44sat on i agree a three million pound center back signed from a relegated team in la liga and has
13:50gone on to newcastle united unbelievable service i think is is one of the big things england will
13:56have to watch out for is his distribution from center back because he can change a game in a
14:01heartbeat by pinging a crossfield ball um i like brillin bolo i think he's a threat uh he's probably
14:07now reaching full fitness after suffering injuries this is this is unquestionably england's biggest
14:14test so far by quite some distance um i call it a banana skin i think that's probably harsh
14:19now i think about it on switzerland because they are so much more than that um this is going to
14:23be a real test and one where england will have to match switzerland in every single department
14:28they can't allow themselves to to fall below the standards that uh that switzerland will set for
14:34them i mean nathan what do you think sort of where is this game going to be decided i thought
14:39it was quite interesting that um murray yakin before the italy game said that if they set up
14:43with a back four we'll beat them they set up with a back four and they beat them and of course
14:48england we expect unless they adopt some of your tactical ideas from part one we'll probably set up
14:53with a back four so where do you think this game is going to be won and lost is this a game where
14:57you think tactically you're a bit worried about the way switzerland work i'm more worried about
15:02what we've seen from england than i am about switzerland to be honest i think switzerland
15:06were a lot of people's dark horses going into this tournament and will be a very very difficult
15:13test i think mark's actually said it perfectly there however let's be honest if you're i'd rather
15:21face switzerland to get into a euros 2024 semi-final and i would be spain or germany or france
15:30or portugal let's be realistic here like if you if you're an england fan if you're an england
15:34player and you're saying you're giving switzerland you gotta beat switzerland to get into a euro
15:38semi-final you're absolutely biting your hand off so yes i agree but it's simple england to to win
15:45this game england have got to start playing better and if they do and if they play to their
15:49capabilities england win this game but they're gonna have to do a damn sight better for me i
15:53think that switzerland have been very very good i think they've been solid i think they've they've
15:58especially counter-attacking i think they've been excellent i thought that they were very very good
16:01yes italy were poor they really were but at the same time two nil kind of flattered flattered
16:06italy a little bit that could have been three or four that you know some fantastic saves by donna
16:10rumor and i think that that really england have got to go on the front four and they've got to
16:15get pace and i think they need to get pace in behind this this back three to a certain extent
16:21that switzerland are playing so so well i wonder and i know mark said about about maybe tony i
16:26agree i think that probably kane will start but kane's not getting into those positions anymore
16:30you need someone who's got a bit of pace to run in in behind that's where i think you're going to
16:34do it if you get some pace if you get forward and that's why we talk about palm we talk about gordon
16:39i mean you know it's it's it's very very difficult there's a certain striker aston billiard and olly
16:45watkins we've seen fleetingly but he's the kind of place that we saw briefly make those runs in
16:50that kane isn't making i think you've got to go pace and i think you've got to go with them you've
16:54got to go at them straight away but we keep on saying this we keep expecting a change and i think
16:58that gareth will now be forced into changes now i don't think he can do what he's been doing and i
17:03don't think he can leave it until the 60th minute to make one change the 85th the 95th minute i
17:08really think that that they've had to they've got to stop this and i think that there will be
17:12significant changes should there be significant changes you know this late into a tournament
17:17ideally not and like you say these are the same players in a lot of these other in these other
17:22teams who are doing well who are playing you know making one or two changes but you're going
17:26to be enforced into a change with guay he as well of course because he's going to be suspended for
17:29the game so that's another one i think we could say up to three four changes and i think gareth
17:34might see show now that like i'm gonna have to make these changes because this isn't working
17:39and i think he's got to rip it up and he's got to start again and if it's in a tournament in
17:42a quarterfinal and so be it that that's it is what it is unfortunately what do you what do
17:47you think about changes mark do you actually think he will rip up the playbook a little bit here
17:51uh do i think he should yes do i think he will not as many as we think or hope um there is one
17:58enforced as you say mark gay being being suspended too i think by the way there's been the real
18:03bright spot of the tournament for england i think he's uh that was the concern wasn't it who would
18:07partner stones i think he's been quite comfortably better than stones who i think has looked uh i
18:13think he struggled with that seniority of its center back um i think gay he has been solid
18:18but not spectacular but that's been enough and uh it'll have to be more in the coming games if
18:23england do progress um i don't know who replaced him i think it's a difficult one but i totally
18:28agree with nathan i think palmer has to come in i think gordon has to come in i do honestly think
18:32there's an argument for saying either tony or what can should start because i don't think harry
18:36cain's fit i don't think he's looked fit he's making the harry cain runs he's not the energy
18:41he's dropping far far too deep now in the past i've always thought england benefited from cain
18:46dropping deep because he gives them a little bit of control another outlet there but now
18:49we have a bellium in there we have rice in there who can do that job we have um you know players
18:54who can control the game from midfield he doesn't need to drop deep now be a striker
18:59work the area work the center backs work the wide areas if you have to but stop dropping deep um so
19:05for me i think yes i would make changes three or four but i'm not sure he will i think he'll stay
19:09safe i mean nathan for you i mean we mentioned there a couple of times about mark gahee being
19:15out and uh you know the need to replace him i guess if you're looking at garrett southgate's
19:19recent election of friendlies and the spring internationals you're probably looking at lewis
19:23dunk is that who you bring in or do you have any strong feelings about bringing someone else into
19:26the side um i i slightly disagree i think it would have been concert in to be honest i think concert
19:32has been excellent um it remains to be seen but i think he's he can adapt as well you know he's
19:37he's played on the left he's played at the right he's played down down the middle and also i think
19:41from you know he's had a brilliant season for aston villa absolutely superb but also attacking
19:46wise he's a useful threat going forward lewis dunk is as well of course he is and you know
19:50really really big set you know set piece guy but i think in terms of form i think that dunk was
19:55maybe slightly fortunate to be selected um i think you've got to pick players on form and you know
20:01that's why we've kind of been very frustrated on especially on these shows about about cole
20:06palmer's lack of minutes about about gordon you know these players being picked to have been
20:09brilliant and then you're not playing them um and i think concerts concerts the same i think
20:14concerts you know he's he's sky high the confidence up here because of the season that he's just had
20:20we'll have just got chamois league football for me he'd be the person that i'd bring in um and not
20:25lewis dunk but okay he has got options but i agree you know i think he's been the pick of the
20:30centerbacks um i mean stones didn't play a lot for manchester city did he either towards the end of
20:34the season so you know you look at him i'm not sure whether he's completely fit there's a lot
20:38of players that got question marks at this moment in time the game didn't see about the players not
20:43being fit enough to press so you do wonder if there's something to that if the players are just
20:47tired i mean i don't think we're talking about fitness in terms of you know their general levels
20:51of fitness or injuries per se except in the case of sure but yeah they look weary um anyway for the
20:56last couple of minutes of the show let's move on from england briefly one of the other quarterfinals
21:00we have got decided is going to be spain versus germany uh they're through after beating georgia
21:04and denmark respectively they've arguably been the best two tides in the tournament so far
21:08haven't they mark i mean how do you see this one going because it looks like a hell of a game
21:12uh give me a show of my own talking about spain please honestly he's just i watched two minutes
21:19tops near enough i mean i look at um i wrote a piece for three out of minutes before the
21:25the tournament saying spain would be the team to watch um and i wrote then that i think they're
21:30still defensively not where they should be um and i stand by that i still think they can be got at
21:35i think this will be their first major test as a defensive unit um there's not a lot of experience
21:41in the back four yes you've got carver hall there but the other three in terms of international
21:45football aren't massively experienced um but going forward wow oh just wow i could talk about
21:53your pedries and you know the two wide players you know you've got williams and
21:58just just so good to watch so much pace intensity so much skill that danny almo goal last night i
22:04could literally sit and watch that i could write a three and a half thousand word piece on just
22:08that goal alone just wonderful to watch however we contrast that with germany who are the highest
22:15level of confidence we've seen from a german team in a long time this game and it could be anything
22:21it could be honestly it could be a 4-4 it could be a complete tactical battle but i think both
22:26sides will just absolutely go for it i think it's going to be the team of the game of the tournament
22:31so far by a long long way um i just i can't wait for it but this spain side if they get through
22:37this i think will win the tournament i think i may have said it last time i was on that
22:42they're probably too good to be dark horses and not quite good enough to be favorites i was wrong
22:47absolutely wrong with that they are firmly among the favorites to win this tournament
22:51i'm fully aware come five o'clock on about seven o'clock on friday they could be out of the
22:55tournament but this is going to be a spain side that will grow and grow and grow because they
23:00are so good they have so many top top towns coming through that will just supplement what they've got
23:05um but uh yeah it's going to be an absolutely cracking game and i think spain ledger i've got
23:10to be honest i really do you're a winner comes from this tie for me from this from this game
23:14whoever's going to win the euros for me will be from this there you have it's coming home
23:18as long as where your home is is spain fortune
23:26that's all we've got time for in today's episode of we can be euros many thanks to
23:29nathan judah and mark ruthers for joining me to our producer mark wilson and of course to all of
23:33you watching at home we'll be back soon with another episode but in the meantime you can
23:37catch up with all of our past episodes and loads more great football content on shots tv.com
23:41we'll see you soon goodbye
23:59you