Sam Allardyce has weighed in on England’s Euro final defeat against Spain and whether Gareth Southgate will continue as manager.
The Three Lions suffered more heartbreak after Mikel Oyarzabal’s late winner in Berlin. Cole Palmer had earlier cancelled out Nico Williams’ opener.
While the football wasn’t pretty at times, Southgate led England to their third major final appearance and first on foreign soil.
Big Sam, his predecessor in the hot seat, wonders if the pressure on the manager to end all the years of hurt might have taken its toll.
He said on Good Morning Britain: “The one thing Gareth has to think of is (he’s been manager for) eight years. Who was the last England manager to last longer than eight years?
“It’s a long time to soak up the pressure that’s upon you and maybe it’s the time where he thinks that his tenure has been long enough.”
Allardyce added: “We seemed to not be able to find the right system for the talent pool we had, which is very difficult when you’ve got so much talent.
“It was a little disappointing but overall Spain were the better side. The other matches where the opposition weren’t as good as we were, you could maybe criticise a bit more about our attacking play.”
Southgate has overseen back-to-back runs to a Euro final and led the Three Lions to the World Cup semi-final in 2018 – their best result since 1990.
“Gareth has been so composed and dealt with the criticism really well throughout," former captain John Terry insisted.
“A lot of ex-players have been really critical of Gareth and the team. These are players that didn’t get further than a quarter-final and they criticise a manager who has done an incredible job.
“I’m sure there will be offers for Gareth in the Premier League or around the world, but I think he believes there’s a trophy to win with this group of players. I really hope he stays because he’s been fantastic.”
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