UK Back Pages ↗
The UK back pages are unsurprisingly dominated by England’s 0-0 draw against Slovenia. Despite two draws and a win, England will advance to the Round of 16 at the top of Group C. It’s also the group with the least amount of goals scored!
European media react after England & France bore-fest
The back pages – like much of England – are not happy with the performance as the European Media react after England and the tactical choices made by boss Gareth Southgate. The performance is dubbed ‘toothless’ ‘boring’ and ‘sloppy’ and has fans wondering how far England can realistically go in the tournament.
European back pages
The European media haven’t held back in their mocking of the England National team calling England & France a bore-fest following a 0-0 draw with Slovenia at Euro 2024.
‘You can’t play any worse than England’
German Bild wrote: ‘You start to wonder what his plan actually is!’
They branded the performance ‘frightening’ and ‘lacking in control’ and slammed Southgate for moving Bellingham onto the left wing in the second half.
However, they did give credit for an uptick after half-time and gave plaudits for keeping a clean sheet.
They’ve branded Bellingham as ‘very pale’ and noted his ‘uncharacteristic’ ‘bad passing’. The paper says Foden had ‘too little influence on the game’ and Conor Gallagher ‘disappeared completely, seemed unsettled, and lost the ball during the game.’
The mocking of the England National team continued in Spain. Spanish newspaper Marca claimed that ‘you can’t play worse’ than England did and believe they would improve if they sacked Southgate and installed Pep Guardiola mid-tournament.
Marca lists England’s array of attacking talent before concluding that Southgate has got ‘none of them to play well’, producing a ‘sad’ performance against Slovenia.
Further along, they ask: ‘What the h*** is wrong with Gareth Southgate?’
Spanish Newspaper la Marca
Marca praises bringing on Kobbie Mainoo for Conor Gallagher as he brought ‘dynamism and a tremendous personality,’ but feels his ‘ceiling is below that of Trent Alexander-Arnold.’
They also say they cannot understand why Cole Palmer has had little playing time.
‘Like the French, the English failed to shine’
The Uk and European media also reacted to the French newspaper L’Equipe compared England to their own nation, who qualified for the last 16 without scoring a goal from open play.
‘Like the French team a few hours earlier, the English team qualified without shining, displaying a worrying attacking impotence,’ they wrote.