Despite an unimpressive start to the Euros, England advanced to the knockout stages as Group C winners, earning a favorite last-16 matchup against Slovakia. Gareth Southgate hopes to inspire an unlikely journey to the final and end the country’s 58-year wait for a men’s major trophy.
Southgate’s team selections in Germany have come under intense scrutiny, and Hamann believes there is a ‘case’ for dropping Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, and Phil Foden. The former Liverpool, Bayern Munich, and Germany midfielder also believes that English fans have seen the final game of Conor Gallagher, despite the Chelsea star playing in all three group games. Gallagher, who led Chelsea for much of the previous campaign, came on as a substitute in the second half against Serbia and Denmark before replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold in England’s starting lineup against Slovenia but was pulled off at halftime.
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England fans have seen the last of Conor Gallagher
‘If you stick with these major names and they clearly don’t perform, I believe there is a case for dropping them,’ Hamann told RTE. I believe there is a case for dropping Foden, Bellingham, and Kane. ‘As a manager, if you want the respect of your entire squad, you must go after the big boys.
People will not respect you if you go after the young boys. ‘I believe he has reached the point where the public, pundits, England, and the team have all lost faith in him. ‘Some of the substitutions are difficult to understand; you have no idea what he is thinking. ‘I think the biggest problem is that they have Foden and Bellingham on the same team. It obviously doesn’t work, but he doesn’t have the bottle to drop either of them. England’s Euro 2024 last 16 opponents Slovakia finished third in Group E, defeating Belgium in their first game before falling to Ukraine and tying with Romania.
