Euro 2024 column: Gareth Southgate's England conundrum

England view - Elliott Jackson

How much do performances matter if England win? Well, quite a lot to be honest.

Despite that, it's impossible to argue that 'finding a way' has more importance when we reach this stage of a tournament. As we wrote in yesterday's Euro View, it is very uncommon for the 'best' team to lift the trophy.

England's performances have been disjointed, lacklustre, lop-sided and truly underwhelming at the European Championship. They well and truly got off the hook down a piece of brilliance from Jude Bellingham.

Gareth Southgate was seconds away from his final moments as England manager being a national disgrace. The Three Lions almost, almost went 'full Iceland'.

But, as it is, they live to fight another day. And you do have to praise the spirit and character they showed to rescue the situation, even if it was all of their own making.

As we enter the quarter-finals, England are in a bit of a 'no win' situation. They're expected to reach the final now, given the opposition left on their side of the draw. Yet the performances they've produced make them outsiders, from what we've seen on the pitch, against Switzerland on Saturday evening.

If they win, 'ah well, they should beat Switzerland'. If they lose, further outrage and the end of Southgate's tenure.

The only way for England to gain some 'feel-good factor' is for there to be a step up in performance. Southgate has to change things because, bar 30 minutes against Serbia, the same group of players have simply not produced.

A switch to 3-4-3 makes logical sense, to me. It will help add more creative options, such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, into the team and address the lack of balance on the left side if indeed Bukayo Saka takes that role on an emergency basis.

Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham can operate in their favoured central channels, albeit I'd rather have the latter next to Declan Rice in midfield.

At least Southgate is trying something.

So sure, if England play poorly again but somehow win, the narrative will start to shift from 'this is rubbish' to 'good teams find a way to win', which is a whole other can of worms in itself.

There are a lot of parallels between France, who won the 2018 World Cup and reached the final four years later, and England. Just Southgate's side haven't made that final step.

But when you play a brand of football that, in the eyes of many, doesn't get the most out of the talent pool available, you can only justify it with victories. Even then, the narrative of football is changing. Winning is no longer enough solely, fans want to be entertained.

If England win and flatter to deceive, the nation will still be belting out Three Lions and Vindaloo at the prospect of another semi-final. But the only way to silence the true critics is to put on a display.

Gareth Southgate is considering a formation change for England against Switzerland (Image: PA)

England View – Marc Iles

Pick your narrative, either Gareth Southgate considering a switch to 3-5-2 or even 3-4-3 is his ‘last roll of the dice’ or it is an England manager evolving with the ebbs and flows of Euro 2024.

What could be their last training session at this tournament was completed yesterday with all signs pointing towards a change in system for the Swiss, and an opportunity for 100,000 nameless Twitter accounts to claim credit. It’s a funny old world.

Southgate is no mug. He knows the onus is on him to show at least a token change in direction to avoid a repeat of the dull, lifeless performance they put in against Slovakia. You can argue about lucky breaks – or substitutions – all you like, but every team that wins a tournament has one Sliding Doors moment where it all could have gone wrong. This can be that moment.

It is strange to think that all the way back at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, we were pleading with Southgate to try something other than 3-5-2.

They went out in the semi-final looking a tired team. Croatia’s superior midfield and superlative possession play made the second striker look a luxury and England went into retreat, effectively becoming a back five as the pressure told.

Now, six years later, that same system looks like some sort of beacon of hope, a lightbulb switched on inside the manager’s head after losing Marc Guehi to suspension.

Footballing narratives can switch direction in an instant. We have actually reached the point where Trent Alexander-Arnold – a player who started this competition looking totally lost as a midfielder – might actually end up being the catalyst for a semi-final spot.

Who knows, maybe Kieran Trippier leathers in another free kick to win the game on Saturday and becomes the answer to England’s prayers on the left?

Opinions change like the wind. The only thing certain in life is that Barry from Bognor will always know best.

Memphis Depay looks the part... But his shooting has been pretty wayward (Image: PA)

Euro View – Marc Iles

You won’t find many Dutch pundits who fancy the Netherlands to win the Euros but a few folk over here took notice of their win against Romania.

When England looked like they could be pitted against the Dutch in the last 16 their so-so performances in the group stages did not make it look such a big deal.

But Ronald Koeman’s side got their act together in the last 16 and if they can replicate that sort of performance against Turkey then they really will have some momentum going into the semi-finals.

Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo seems to have got his eye in and I have really enjoyed watching AC Milan’s Tijjani Rinders, whose silky skills in midfield have gone under the radar a little bit.

Unlike many previous Dutch sides they are also really strong at the back. This is a team where Micky van der Ven and Matthijs de Ligt can’t even get a start in central defence.

I do question whether they have enough quality in attack to win the tight games, and Memphis Depay continues to have ‘all the gear and no idea’ in front of goal.

Turkey are unpredictable, have already had three players suspended and have another seven on yellow cards, quite what we get from them is anyone guess. They have been great to watch, their fans might be the noisiest in the whole competition, but have they got the class?

We are looking at this from an English perspective – but if you were the Netherlands or Turkey, you’d also be looking at the other quarter-final in this side of the draw and thinking you could win it on current form.

Sometimes, all you need to do is time your run right, and both teams who play in Berlin on Saturday night will feel they could be through on goal with a win.