June 18th 2024.
Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, recently expressed his disappointment with Gareth Southgate's tactics during England's Euro 2024 match against Serbia. This came after England secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory, with Jude Bellingham scoring the only goal in the 13th minute.
Despite being one of the top contenders in the tournament, England struggled to maintain their lead and were lucky to come away with a win. Ten Hag, who was working as a pundit for Dutch broadcaster NOS, criticized Southgate for his passive and defensive approach, accusing him of gambling with the team's success.
"England were playing very passive," said Ten Hag after the game. "I actually saw them moving backwards, they kept Serbia coming at them. It's the vision of the manager [Southgate]. England will take a 1-0 lead, then he [Southgate] decides to start gambling with making his team compact and relying on moments for the remaining minutes of the game."
This criticism from Ten Hag surprised many, including former Manchester City and England defender Micah Richards. Richards, who was a guest on The Rest Is Football podcast, was taken aback by Ten Hag's comments, especially considering the criticism he received last season for his own tactical approach at United.
"Glass houses, to start with," Richards said. "We basically had this conversation in the FA Cup final and now he's being a pundit talking about how managers are playing in a negative fashion. When we talk about Man United and they've not had a good season because of where they've finished in the league, he bites at us! It's ridiculous! We've backed him so many times, saying the way he's been treated has not been great and now he's talking about other managers, it's a lack of respect."
Even England legend Alan Shearer had some criticisms for the team's performance in the match, despite the win. Shearer, who was on punditry duty for the BBC, expressed his surprise at how deep England sat back in the second half.
"I was surprised in the second half how far we went back," Shearer said. "It wouldn't have surprised me for 10 or 15 minutes because it's international football and at times you're going to have to suffer out of possession, you're going to have to defend well, you might need your goalkeeper, you might need a bit of luck."
He also pointed out the lack of energy and spark in the team's performance, as well as their lack of game management skills. Shearer said, "We lacked a little bit of know-how as well because you've got to play the game a little bit. When we were getting free-kicks we were trying to take quick free-kicks and I'm thinking: 'Hang on, f***ing hell! Just kill the game! We're under huge pressure here. We're winning 1-0, keep the ball frustrate them'."
Despite the criticism, Shearer acknowledged the importance of getting a win in the opening game of the European Championships, especially for England who have a poor record in such matches. "It was really poor, I thought, in the second half, but it's an opening game of a European Championships and England notoriously have s*** records in opening games. Before yesterday, we won one in the last ten," Shearer said.
Overall, while England may have secured a victory, there are still areas for improvement and Southgate will need to address these issues in the upcoming matches.
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