England Euro 2024 LIVE: Latest news as John Stones reveals England’s turning point before crunch Switzerland match | OneFootball

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England fans go wild as Harry Kane puts Three Lions into lead against Slovakia at Euro 2024

Only eight nations remain at Euro 2024 and, somehow, England are still one of them.

A date with Switzerland awaits Gareth Southgate’s side now after struggling through the group stage and mounting the very latest of late escapes in the last-16 against Slovakia, with an injury-time equaliser sending the tie to extra-time, where a goal from Harry Kane sealed their progress.

Jude Bellingham scored the spectacular 96th-minute strike to keep England in the game - and the tourmament - but ensuing celebrations left some offended. “An inside joke gesture towards some close friends who were at the game. Nothing but respect for how that Slovakia team played tonight,” he suggested - but that didn’t stop Uefa opening an investigation over potential indecent conduct, which could yet see him face a ban.

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England’s previous efficiency under Southgate seemed to have evaporated

The 2024 England have had all of those problems and worse. It’s not just been flat, but fatigued. It’s not just that the formation doesn’t work, but almost no part of the team does. There are imbalances everywhere. The press has been too cautious, with Southgate’s inherent conservatism ensuring the team don’t commit the extra player required. It has all made England statistically – and very visibly – the slowest team at Euro 2024.

By the same token, the players have persistently said the mood in the camp has been great, indirectly indicating nothing there needs changing… only to go out and play as if the weight of decades is upon them. They were even bickering on the pitch against Slovakia. A previous efficiency under Southgate seemed to have evaporated, clouded by so much second-guessing.

Can one strike, no matter how uplifting, really change all that? This is the duality to late goals, too. On one side, they are an emotional elixir. On the other, the fact they are even required shows fundamental problems in the team. England’s performance against Slovakia was after all just a continuation of what had come before. It was impossible not to watch that game and see where Switzerland could potentially take England apart, especially given what they’d done to Italy just the day before.

Sonia Twigg5 July 2024 09:01

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Can one overhead kick really change a tournament? Here’s what England think

Over the last few days, the England players have felt a “shift” in training. There’s even been a lightness to some of the heavier work. Many of the squad felt the benefit of proper time with the family on Tuesday. Part of that is down to the breathing space that comes from a bit of a break, but most of it is from the release of Jude Bellingham’s goal against Slovakia.

The line all week has been that this is a “turning point”, even coming up repeatedly in team meetings. Gareth Southgate himself set that idea in the euphoria after the Slovakia game, openly talking about how it could be similar to Paul Gascoigne’s goal against Scotland at Euro ‘96. One of his “leadership group”, John Stones, was only too willing to take up the thread.

“I think it is a turning point emotionally, to do it in such a high-pressure moment in the last few minutes,” the centre-half said. “I believe it is going to change a lot of things for the team, going through these emotions.”

It was an undeniably huge goal, but it is still a lot to put on one strike. Can a single moment really change a whole tournament?

Sonia Twigg5 July 2024 08:02

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A dinner and 'super' wine helped Switzerland become a contender at Euro 2024

Switzerland is on the verge of making history at Euro 2024, but a few months ago it was a team under severe pressure.

A dinner and some "super" red wine in Duesseldorf — where Switzerland plays England on Saturday — helped captain Granit Xhaka and coach Murat Yakin turn things around.

The Swiss team eliminated defending champion Italy last week and is a step away from the semifinals, which would be its best-ever result at any tournament.

Just over four months ago, however, things were very different. Switzerland had won just one of its previous seven games, and that was against tiny Andorra. During that time, Xhaka had publicly criticized the team's training sessions — and by implication Yakin — and likened the team's performance to a kick-about "in the park."

In February, Yakin came to visit Xhaka for dinner in Duesseldorf, just up the road from where Xhaka was playing for the then-undefeated Bayer Leverkusen.

What exactly they talked about remains a secret — and so does the menu — but both men have said the dinner was an important moment in the bond between coach and captain. It may have helped that Xhaka scored his first goal for Leverkusen the next day.

"We players are happy that we have a coach who is open to hearing the players' opinions and there have never been problems. We are men enough to talk about it," Xhaka said last month.

"Good food, super wine and I scored the next day ... I think we are both very ambitious. We both just want success for ourselves, for the team. And that is what counts. Everything else is history."

(AFP via Getty Images)

Jack Rathborn5 July 2024 02:00

Switzerland’s precision and a press give England a tactical dilemma

England’s happiness at being on what is perceived to be the easier side of the knockout draw at Euro 2024 has been tested by Slovakia but what awaits them in the quarter-final on Saturday will be an even sterner examination.

Opponents Switzerland have been beaten only once in their 18 matches since the World Cup, a dead rubber European Championship qualifier in Romania, and have lost outright in one of their last 14 games at the Euros dating back to 2008. Germany midfielder Toni Kroos was full of praise for the Swiss after the hosts needed a 92nd-minute equaliser in their final pool match to draw 1-1 while Italy’s Bryan Cristante was candid after their 2-0 last-16 defeat.

“They beat us physically and in terms of organisation,” he said.

For an England side that has found opening up opponents difficult in Germany, that presents another tactical challenge for manager Gareth Southgate. The Swiss have a settled back-four but coach Murat Yakin is not afraid to make changes in the forward positions, and with several options across the front three, it makes it hard to plan for them. Switzerland’s seven goals at Euro 2024 have come from different players, they are not reliant on an individual who can be contained, but spread the workload across the team, whether in attack or defence.

They also work incredibly hard. Midfielder Rubin Vargas praised his side for how they suffocated Italy when out of possession. “We didn’t give them time to breathe,” he said.

The Swiss are second bottom for number of tackles made (36) at the finals, but have conceded only three goals, which shows how they use their organisation and press to subdue opponents. In fact, goalkeeper Yann Sommer has been forced to make only six saves in more than six hours of football, so well has he been protected by his defence. No gloveman has been less busy at Euro 2024.

The Swiss are one of four teams at the tournament to have scored two goals from outside the box, along with Germany, Turkey and Romania. They have had more shots on target (18) than off target (15) at these finals, a claim only a handful of sides can make, and don’t mind not having the ball with 48% possession spread across their games. They do not use width much and are last of the 24 teams for crosses completed with five in four games, keeping their play compact in central positions.

“When we put on our pressing, we won’t let them (England) play. That’s our job,” Yakin told reporters. “We played well against Germany, we played well against Italy, so why shouldn’t we beat England?”

Jack Rathborn4 July 2024 23:00