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Moment that saved England’s Euro 2024
A transition from being fearful during the group stages to full of belief has put England on the verge of a second straight Euros final
Gareth Southgate can pinpoint the exact moment he realised his England team were playing with a “fearful” mindset which needed to be changed to turn around their European Championship.
His players had effectively sealed a place in the knockout stages with a point against Denmark in Frankfurt but were on their knees, exhausted and devastated after failing to win. The Danes, meanwhile, were jubilant with their point and celebrated wildly with their supporters.
After reaching the final of the last Euros and getting to a World Cup semi-final, the expectations have risen. But the by-product has been the pressure on England to win – and win well. Southgate’s decision was to hit the reset button with a team meeting before their final Group C game.
“For me that’s been a fascinating experience to see the team have been fearful in the opening part of it, almost concerned about what could go wrong. We haven’t had that for a few years,” said Southgate, whose team can make history by defeating Holland in Dortmund and reach England’s first major final on foreign soil.
“Maybe that was [because of] expectation, maybe that was a lot of external things as well. But now they’re very much in a ‘what’s achievable, what’s possible’ sort of mindset. I think we saw a truer reflection of ourselves in the last game and there was a lot within that performance to build on and take into this game.”
Southgate has seen a different England since the group stages were wrapped up. They were saved by Jude Bellingham against Slovakia in the last-16 but were creating more chances. They were better again when they faced Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
Declan Rice spoke about the “reset” meeting that has been a turning point in the finals. Southgate admitted at the time there were “honest” conversations to get back on track.
“We definitely spoke about it. When you can sense that feeling you need to confront it. It’s no use avoiding it and hoping it will go away,” said Southgate.
“In the end we sort of had to grind it out on the pitch. The Denmark game, the point we got, there’s a picture of the players looking distraught. They’ve got a point that essentially ensured us qualifying.
“Every other team was celebrating with their fans at that and we were on our knees. So I had to correct how they were viewing things. But of course that feeling was being reinforced so vocally and actively outside and I think they were picking up on that too much.”
Southgate’s attempt to change the mindset of the squad has been a constant operation, reinforcing his messages during the long days at England’s basecamp at their Spa & Golf Resort Weimarer Land hotel. It means the final team-talk at Westfalenstadion before facing the Dutch may not be a Churchillian speech to send his players out to make history.
“I haven’t decided yet,” said Southgate. “For me the messages are constant. We meet with the players all the time. We’ve had a tactical meeting in the morning before the game. The tone of everything you deliver, the messages behind everything you deliver, the way we talk to them individually on the training pitch, it’s constant.
“I know everybody would love to think there’s one speech just before a game that is the bit that makes the difference – because in the films it is – but when you’re psychologically trying to condition a team it’s a 24/7 process and your conscious of getting that tone and those messages right all the time so that actually the last bit should matter less.
“I still think it’s an important moment to get right, but your hitting the players with that all the time and I think it’s something we’ve always thought a lot about as a coaching team.”