England are getting ready to face Spain in the Euro 2024 final today in Berlin. The Three Lions qualified for the final by beating the Netherlands thanks to a late goal from striker Ollie Watkins. England’s performances have been criticized this summer but they played their best football in the semifinal against a determined Dutch side, however, their biggest test is yet to come today against Spain.
The Spaniards have qualified for the final the hard way, by beating favorites Germany in the quarterfinal and France in the semifinal. Gareth Southgate’s substitutes worked wonders for England in the semifinal when Watkins and Cole Palmer were sent on late in the game. The Aston Villa striker managed to score the late winner after the Chelsea midfielder provided the assist.
Football pundit Graeme Souness wants Southgate to drop England captain Harry Kane for the final and start Watkins instead. He told the Daily Mail: “Gareth Southgate faces the biggest football decision of his life on Saturday: whether to drop Harry Kane. If he gets it right, it is a decision that will make Gareth a national hero and, on current evidence, I’d say you have to leave Harry out. I’ve been one of Harry’s greatest supporters.”
“He is a fantastic goalscorer, who has shown terrific ability at Tottenham, Bayern Munich, and for England but this tournament he has looked like he is towing a caravan around the football pitch. The introduction of Ollie Watkins against the Netherlands enlivened the team. Park the fact he scored a wonderful goal, his contribution changed England as an attacking threat.”
“Gareth has been fiercely loyal to Harry, often with good reason as he has been a match winner on many occasions, and as I’ve said before I wouldn’t like to begin to second guess what England’s manager does next, but he has to seriously consider this change.”
England need Harry Kane as far up the pitch as possible. Kane has been criticized in the Euros for dropping too deep into the midfield when the Three Lions have needed a goal-scoring presence upfront. The striker switches his role and becomes a playmaker at times but that works against the team as nobody is found in the box to finish off the chances created by the wide players.
Watkins is someone who likes to stay upfront in the box and he keeps the same position for the whole game, helping the creative players to feed the attacker with opportunities to score. It looks highly unlikely that Kane will be dropped since he has started every match in the tournament and Southgate trusts his captain but Souness will not be the only one wanting that to happen.
