Gareth Southgate has admitted that expectations “weighed heavily” on England at the beginning of Euro 2024, but his side are now ready to make history.
England face a semi final against the Netherlands on Wednesday evening knowing a win would see them make a second consecutive European Championships final.
The Three Lions have flattered to deceive in Germany so far, but find themselves in the last four thanks to a penalty shootout victory against Switzerland in the quarter finals.
Expectation has weighed heavily on England
England’s performances have come in for heavy criticism at times, but a switch to a back three against the Swiss saw some improvement, although they can clearly go up several levels in performance with the quality in the team.
Southgate’s side never got going in the group stage despite finishing top of their group, and they scraped past Slovakia in extra time in the last 16 before being taken the distance by the Swiss.
Speaking ahead of the semi final with the Dutch, Southgate admitted that expectation weighed heavily on England at the start of the tournament and the noise from outside “had never been louder.”
“One of our strengths over the years has been having less fear, showing less inhibition but at the beginning of the tournament the expectation weighed heavily and the noise from outside had never been louder, we couldn’t quite get ourselves in the right place,” he told reporters.
“What was impressive in the end was that we ground it out and found ways to win. I thought that shifted against the Swiss, you saw a freer version of us on the ball. The group changed, if not the messaging.
“Now it’s about what is possible and not what might go wrong. This is now the chance to make history. We are trying to break new ground and that is not easy but the players have been resilient.”
If previous games are anything to go by then it’s likely this will be a tightly contested affair which could easily end up going the distance.