Jamie Carragher got himself into a huge row with fans on social media about Gareth Southgate following the Euro 2024 final.
England's wait to win a second men's major tournament will stretch to at least 60 years after they lost 2-1 to Spain in the final of Euro 2024.
Mikel Oyarzabal broke English hearts when he tapped home an 86th minute winner, and in truth it was no less than Spain deserved.
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Luis de la Fuente's side took the lead early in the second half thanks to Nico Williams, but England fought back and equalised through Cole Palmer.
After that England did what they'd done all tournament; sit back and hold on for dear life.
This time it didn't work, as Oyarzabal scored before a Dani Olmo clearance off the line denied Gareth Southgate's side a last-gasp equaliser.
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England underwhelmed in Germany, with fans and pundits levelling criticism at both Southgate and his players.
Jamie Carragher has refused to pin the blame on the manager, and after the match argued with fans on X who thought otherwise.
"Sven [Goran Eriksson] played 4-4-2, Fabio [Capello] was too strict, Gareth [Southgate] is too defensive! Funny how it’s always on the manager isn’t it?!!" the former England defender posted on X.
"The fact is our big players didn’t turn up in this tournament. And other tournaments going back years."
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When one fan responded to Carragher's post with a comparison of England's and Croatia's expected goals ratings (Croatia's was higher despite only playing three matches at Euro 2024), the former Liverpool man shot back:
"Exactly! Big players didn’t turn up!! We had about 60 per cent possession until the final because we played average teams.
"You blame Southgate for some of the best attacking players in Europe not being able to break average defences down???"
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Another fan replied to Carragher with: "Luis de la Fuente has a much worse squad but lets his team ball every single game while Southgate can hardly make his team look enjoyable for more than 5 minutes.
"What is it with English pundits and defending that garbage manager?"
Carragher retorted: "International football is not littered with top managers, it’s about the players. Ours froze in that first half, allowing the keeper to go long & not demanding the ball & showing for it."
When the same fan pointed out that Argentina are a better team to watch than England despite having a weaker squad (Messi aside), Carragher snapped back: "Shut up you t**, & stop asking me to get other footballers to follow you!!"
Topics: England, Euro 2024, Gareth Southgate, Jamie Carragher, Spain, Football