England and Spain flew back to their respective countries, while the Football Association got into gear by writing up a shortlist to replace Gareth Southgate
Thank you very much for joining me – and all my colleagues – throughout the Euros and its aftermath. This is the final Euros live blog, meaning this will be an emotional goodbye for absolutely no one.
I shall leave you with another end of an era, the last Euro 2024 Daily. Will we see the like again?
The tournament was pretty underwhelming and England lost the final. Ta ra Euro 2024.
Gareth Southgate has the backer of one England legend. Geoff Hurst wants him to stay in the role after eight years of improvements.
My own view is that the FA will want him to carry on,” Hurst told the PA news agency. “Why not, after what he’s achieved? But it’s a stressful job, being a manager. Look at Jurgen Klopp, managed a fantastic Premier League side, but he looked tired after all that happens at the top level. He decided enough was enough.
“The national team job can take an awful lot out of you as a person. I think if he (Southgate) feels up to it physically, then I would be 100 per cent backing him to carry on. Why would you want to remove somebody who’s got to two finals of a championship?”
Maybe they can share a nice bottle of Bud if he does stick about.
“I would like to point out that the only team to beat Spain in the entire Euro 2024 process (qualifying and tournament) was Scotland,” says Hugh (from Glasgow). “I’m sure that makes us unofficial European champions or something.”
Get on the blower to Mr Ceferin. He needs to re-route the trophy.
You don’t get this at the Euros! A goalkeeper goes in search of dirt to fill a hole.
Jacob Steinberg has the definitive answer to who is on the FA shortlist if Southgate says ‘ta ra’.
Manchester United are back in action too! A reminder of the silly soccer schedule. A lot of kids in this squad.
Teams. Expecting a totally different United XI in the second half today, as is usually the case in the first friendly of the summer #mufc pic.twitter.com/h24IA1Pg5v
— Tyrone Marshall (@TyMarshall_MEN) July 15, 2024
It looks like Alvaro Morata will be celebrate his European triumph by heading to Milan from Atletico Madrid.
Bukayo Saka turns towards the crowd and pumps his arms like an orchestra conductor, demands more noise, and the noise explodes like thunder, lifting the Olympiastadion off its stone foundations. Back in the England goal, Jordan Pickford is waving an imaginary lasso. There are 75 minutes on the clock in the Euro 2024 final. Cole Palmer has just scored a spectacular equaliser to make it 1-1. England have an attacking throw-in deep in Spanish territory. How can this be the end?
Jonathan Liew looks back at the moment of the final.
Lamine Yamal is at least young enough to wear a baseball cap backwards. Take note, nursery dads.
I got 15/20.
Are we facing the return of the STOP FOOTBALL campaign? The sport eating itself for the sake of £££ will be the story for the next few years. So few at the top of the game have the best intentions sadly.
Jonathan Wilson on everyone been knackered.
Some report knocking about that Eddie Howe would be in contention to replace Southgate. You’d have to imagine all English managers in the Premier League will under consideration.
“England are right to be secretly proud to have been the perfect foil, to have big-day-showcased the endless talents of the perfect footballing ensemble this tournament’s Spain so patently and repeatedly proved to be,” says EJ.
A bit more on my friend and yours, Xherdan …
Shaqiri has played 125 matches for Switzerland, scoring 32 goals. He is the only Swiss player to appear in seven major tournaments, from World Cup 2010 to Euro 2024. The 32-year-old made two appearances in Euro 2024 as Switzerland exited from the quarter-finals.
“Seven tournaments, many goals, 14 years with the Swiss national team and unforgettable moments. It’s time to say goodbye to the national team,” Shaqiri wrote on Instagram. “Great memories remain and I say to you all, thank you.”
The retirements will keep rolling in. We will always have fond memories of the calves.
Xherdan Shaqiri has announced his retirement from international football 🇨🇭 pic.twitter.com/8COynn8nOc
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 15, 2024
“Speaking as an Australian who is somewhat removed, the England men’s football team gets far more attention than almost any other sporting outfit,” emails Andrew James. “The scrutiny over the decision to play this left back over another is something that almost no other audience applies. If you want your team to succeed, perhaps more criticism isn’t optimal? England were pretty successful in 2018 when expectations were much lower, perhaps there’s something to that.”
You should see the Spanish press …
Bored of reading? Here’s some lovely photos to look at.
In more exciting news … Spain have also landed back in their homeland.
I do enjoy how completely unimpressed the pilot is.
“My wife and I watched the final and mostly on ITV,” says Turner Burgess. “She was convinced that the definition was better on BBC but the prospect of Alan Shearer and his dreary platitudes was too much. McCoist a bit pantomime sometimes but he’s got much more insight. Lee Dixon a bit of a wet blanket. Wright and Keane and Neville more articulate across the board, although I am not sure that Ian Wright gives as good an account of himself as he does on MOTD. Rio and Micah are good but it looked like they were a bit in thrall to the event last night. At times it sounded a little forced. So ITV it was.”
Anthony Gordon: played five minutes, fell off his bike.
England arrive back in the UK (with at least one fan providing the welcome party).
The big talking point.
“If Southgate goes he leaves behind a legacy based around building an environment that the players love,” says Ben Yeo. “There seems to be a real joy in England duty (exhaustion aside), which is what Southgate created. Should he go the new person should be hired on their ability to build a similar atmosphere, but with slightly more tactical acumen. Who does that? Ancelotti? Klopp? Potter was loved by his players (prior to Chelsea). It’s a small list.”
Katherine Sims gets in touch to say: “I couldn’t agree more with Owen (12:41) about the midfield imbalance - the triumvirate of Rodri, Ruiz and Olmo were always likely to have more of the ball and we had joy down the flanks in the first half, but when Spain began to impose themselves more we struggled, before responding by taking Mainoo off (this is not to say I don’t think Palmer was the right player to come on, for obvious reasons). But it meant there was even more of a gap centrally for the Spanish to exploit.
“I also wonder about whether the FA can do anything to produce top-class tactical coaches, similar to how the changes imposed 10-15 years ago have come to fruition (youth teams playing on smaller-sized pitches, etc.). England don’t seem to produce managers like Pep, Klopp, Tuchel and Ancelotti and I wonder if we can look to the likes of Spain and Germany for ideas on how to influence a new generation of coaches with real tactical clout?”
Considering De La Fuente had spent most of his career within the Spanish setup, is that the future? Grooming someone for the prospect of being an international manager.
Our very own Philip Cornwall describes how it is not just the results on the pitch that make following England difficult. On the upside, by writing this, he will at least be able to claim most of the trip on expenses.
Jude Bellingham offers the traditional rallying cry of the defeated.
In case you are needing a football fix this week, there is plenty of action in the Champions League first qualifying round. It is second leg time and I have my eye on Petrocub v Ordabasy, which is 0-0 after the opener.
Welsh champions The New Saints head to Decic of Montenegro with a three-goal lead.
“Should Southgate stay or go?” asks krishnamoorthy. “I say go.Such individual match winners, all of them, Bellingham, Kane, Palmer, Saka, Rice, Stones, Walker and Watkins. It is that inexplicable mystery where the total is less than the sum of its parts
“Chelsea became a power after the now toxic JM took charge
“The noisy neighbors shut up their more accomplished neighbors when one PG took charge
|Liverpool became a force once again when a JK walked in
“Irrespective of the money poured in, the talent available we need a new manager now. It takes nothing away from GS , just that a new head is needed to guide it to the next level.”
“There seems to be a disconnect between punters and journalists regarding the quality of the coverage,” suggests Bruce Crawford. “For me it’s not about who the pundits or co-commentators are, it’s about the main presenters/commentators and the presence of adverts on one channel. I’m old school so come from the days of Coleman, Davies and Motson, all far preferable to Brian Moore who I never liked. While Guy Mowbray is a bit bland, he’s at least listenable unlike the excruciating Sam Matterface. Am not keen on Pougatch as a presenter either.
“The best option by far is the BBC coverage with the 5 Live commentary on the red button.”
“Losing to the best team all tournament is no great shame, but we didn’t help ourselves,” says Finlay Fletcher. “It felt our right side after half time was caught between two formations. Walker was dragged inside and Saka wasn’t covering as wing back. It looked like a flat back four, if that’s the case then Walker needed to hold his position. Another issue once we equalised and finally had a toe hold not quite a foot, Southgate had Trippier and Gallagher ready to come on. Why not go for the win? It felt all tournament like we was a boxer who had been told to not throw a knockout punch when the opposition was on the ropes.”
There is another issue that might need addressing after the Euros. Was the tournament dreadful overall because all the teams were really tired, which can be attributed to the fact everyone plays too much football and it’s only getting worse?I can’t imagine a single player is excited by the farcical prospect of the expanded Club World Cup next summer.
Contrary to speculation on social media, two things can be true at the same time. Gareth Southgate has done a very good job for England but he has not got the full potential out of the current squad, so this seems like a good time to part ways.
Who next? Guardiola in a year might find it an interesting prospect, same for Klopp. Lee Carsley? Potter? Howe? Cooper?
“I personally hope Southgate stays on until the World Cup in two years, but I do think he’ll stand down very soon,” says Des Brown. “Beyond Southgate, who else is there? A lot of nonsense is talked about offering the job to Jurgen Klopp. Klopp is currently being courted by the USA and he wants to manage Germany. He’s also smart enough to know that unless he wins a trophy, his tenure will be branded as a failure. There’s zero chance of him becoming the next England manger.
“That leaves an unappealing domestic choice of Graham Potter or Eddie Howe. I’m not expecting Howe or Potter to be leading England out onto the pitch of the Met Life Stadium in New Jersey for the World Cup final in July 2026.”
Four England fans were arrested at the Euro 2024 final in Berlin on Sunday night, the UK Football Policing Unit has said.
The low number of arrests was in keeping with a tournament where the vast majority of fans have been praised by UK police and the German authorities for their good behaviour.
The UKFPU said of the four arrests, two were for trying to enter the stadium with fake accreditation, one was for assault and one was for letting off a smoke bomb.
There were also numerous instances of people attempting to enter the stadium without a ticket, the unit said.
A further update will be released in due course, but on Friday Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the UK football policing lead, said: “It’s been fantastic to see so many fans enjoying the football and supporting England all the way to the final.”
Thanks Xaymaca. As the hangovers subside, I will bring you all the joys and pain when it comes to final aftermath.
That’s all from me today. I’m handing over to Will Unwin who will give you the latest Euros reaction throughout the afternoon.