Have you got any fingernails left? England have made a habit of late drama in Germany. Tonight, it was the turn of Ollie Watkins, who has sent the England Men’s National Football Team to their first major final on foreign soil.
After a difficult tournament, and a tense penalty shootout at the weekend, England were a game away from consecutive European Championship finals. In their way, a Dutch side who, like England, made it to the final four despite far from spectacular performances. After they came from behind against Turkey, a single change: Donyell Malen, playing at the home of his club, preferred to Steven Bergwijn of Ajax.
Gareth Southgate reverted to the side that started against Slovakia. Ezri Konsa dropped to the bench with Marc Guéhi back in the side following his suspension. But England stuck with the 3-4-2-1 shape that they deployed versus Switzerland and put in their best performance so far.
Still playing at left wing back, Kieran Trippier would be tasked with defending against Denzel Dumfries, who impressed in the previous Euros, making the team of the group stage. The Inter man was playing on the right of a back four but would maraud forward whenever possible in a stellar display.
Ronald Koeman’s side took an early lead inside seven minutes. After Declan Rice slipped, Xavi Simons stole the ball on the right 30 yards from goal and drove forward. From the edge of the box, the PSG midfielder unleashed a rocket. The ball flying into the net at a pace that was too quick for Jordan Pickford, despite getting a hand to it. Simons has garnered much attention from a young age, clips of him playing for Barcelona’s La Masia academy going viral and leading to him signing his first advertising deal at 13. He has certainly come good on that potential over the past couple of years, and yet again followed in the footsteps of his namesake, former Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernández, who scored as Spain beat Russia 3-0 at Euro 2008.
There had been much controversy around the appointment of referee Felix Zwayer in the build up to the match, the German official having served a six-month ban for match fixing in 2006. And it didn’t take long for a controversial decision to be made.
Kane played the ball to Saka on the right side of the box, from where he would dribble inside and see his shot blocked. The ball then fell to the England skipper, who volleyed it over the bar before going down in agony due to a coming together with Denzel Dumfries in the process. After a lengthy VAR review, Zwayer was sent to the monitor to review the footage and duly awarded the spot kick. Dumfries was adjudged to have committed a reckless challenge and was booked.
Kane comfortably dispatched the penalty into the bottom left corner, taking his total for the tournament to three, and breaking the record for the most goals scored in the knockout stages of European Championships (six). After just twelve minutes, England were level, and for the first time all summer, appeared in their groove.
Foden went incredibly close, in the 22nd minute, showing great feet to dribble to just a couple of yards away from the goal in the right half space, holding off Van Dijk and Aké after a lovely through ball from Mainoo. His close-range effort looked set to go in at the near post, but Verbruggen got something on it to take the pace off the ball, and Dumfries cleared it off the line.
Denzel Dumfries’ thumping header would rattle the crossbar from a Dutch corner on the half hour mark, before Foden hit the woodwork at the other end. Shooting from 25 yards out in the right half-space, the Manchester city man’s effort had looked destined for the top-left corner, a la Lamine Yamal, but the scores remained level.
At half time, an uncharacteristically early change from Gareth Southgate, Luke Shaw replacing Kieran Trippier at left wing back. Ronald Koeman meanwhile made his second alteration, with Joey Veerman having come on for the injured Memphis Dpay in the 35th minute. As was the case against Türkiye, now was the time for 6” 7’ striker Wout Weghorst, and with his introduction came a change of shape which saw the Dutch become solid, slowly growing into the game as England struggled to break them down in a half of few chances.
After connecting with Veerman’s slow, curling free kick 35 yards out on the right flank, Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk forced a crucial, but routine save out of Jordan Pickford in the 64th minute, before Denzel Dumfries headed off target from the resulting corner.
Phil Foden found Kyle Walker down the right flank with ten minutes to play. The defender cut the ball back for Bukayo Saka, who thought he’d scored when he found the back of the net from seven yards out, only for it to be disallowed as Kyle Walker was in an offside position when receiving Foden’s pass.
Moments later came a double change for England that would prove vital: Foden and Kane replaced by Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins. It was this duo that would provide the winner.
The game was in its final seconds. Stoppage time imminent. England had the ball in their own half. But with a pass through the lines from Declan Rice, helped on by Kobbie Mainoo, the ball came to Palmer. The 22-year-old steadied himself on the right flank and slipped a reverse ball through to Ollie Watkins with the inside of his left foot. The Aston Villa striker found himself on the right-hand side of the box, was this his moment? He turned Stefan de Vrij, and with the inside of his right foot, slammed the ball through the legs of the defender and into the bottom left corner.
After scoring 19 Premier League goals last season, Watkins has had to be incredibly patient, playing just 20 minutes at Euro 2024 prior to the semi-final, in which he had a similar chance versus Denmark, but at last, this was his moment. Ollie Watkins has sent England to Berlin, where they will face Spain on Sunday.
Analysis: Has Southgate solved the Foden conundrum?
The charge levelled at England after every game this summer is that they weren’t positive enough. Their play was too slow. Their mentality, too safe, far too willing to simply drop off and to keep the ball in their own half. Not in Dortmund. For the first 45 minutes, the Three Lions were completely different beasts, playing with positivity, tenacity and relishing one-on-ones.
Southgate stuck with the 3-4-2-1 system in order to once again play Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham as number 10s. Foden had his best game in an England shirt for a while, driving at players, dribbling past them with ease in the central areas. He played with a confidence that is obvious every week in sky blue but has been somewhat muted with Three Lions on his shirt.
Kobbie Mainoo dictated the play in the middle with many a progressive pass. The 19-year-old is a midfield metronome beyond his years, and again offered a much-needed balance to the side that was lacking in the group stage.
In the back three there was further evidence of England’s renewed willingness to be brave. Playing on the left and right of the back three, Marc Guéhi and Kyle Walker were both unafraid to step up into midfield areas, and in Walker’s case maraud down the right flank, overlapping Bukayo Saka, who continued to be a bright driving force out wide.
The England shape was not too dissimilar to what I sensed they were trying to achieve in the first half hour of their opening game. However, in Gelsenkirchen, they would start in a 4-2-3-1 before attempting to morph into something like this 3-4-2-1, that sometimes looked more like a 3-box-3. Adopting this shape out of possession too, certainly helped Foden, who can now stay in central areas, and roam wide when there is space, as opposed to the opposite. It feels as though he now has a more defined role in this sense, taking up the right half space, with Bellingham on the left, rather than trying to come into the left half space, which Bellingham also seemed to occupy. If anything, this trend has now been flipped on its head, with Bellingham more willing to drift wide in support of Kieran Trippier, who got into better positions on the left flank, even if the final ball was still lacking.
In the second half, the extra body in the middle of the park seemed to mitigate earlier problems for the Dutch, who pushed up much more than England’s previous opponents, offering more space for the likes of Saka and Foden. This is something Spain will likely leave on occasion too, as they look to play on the front foot. If they too want to limit Foden’s influence, his Manchester City teammate Rodri is a prime candidate to mark him.
However, Spain will have many an attacking threat themselves, with fast direct wingers in Nico Williams and teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, and a very talented striker in Alvaro Morata. England may have been favourites before the tournament began, but based on their performances in Germany, Spain are now.
Should Watkins Start?
This will likely be the big question banded about in the English media between now and Sunday night. Southgate’s substitutions in the final ten minutes were bold, in that he was taking off big names, perceived match winners. But they were tactically sound, and if looking solely at the profiles of the players involved, wouldn’t have been questioned. England needed players to run in behind, stretching a tired defence. That is not the game of Harry Kane, who though he was probably the most effective he has been at Euro 2024, looked tired and still appears to be carrying some sort of injury. It is very much the game of Watkins, and Palmer from slightly deeper, who executed this perfectly. Likewise, Foden had a good first half, but was less effective in the second period, and saving him for Sunday, if England were to get there, and taking a slightly different approach perhaps made sense.
So, does Ollie Watkins start in Berlin? He would offer a different challenge for the Spanish backline, which isn’t the quickest by any means. Or would he be more effective against tired legs? It might be better to start Kane, who has experience in these huge games, let him work his socks off for a while, knowing he doesn’t need many chances, and then unleash Watkins. There is a risk that the Aston Villa man isn’t as effective from the start, and if that was to occur, Southgate dropping his captain would be seen as a major mistake.
England (3-4-2-1): Pickford (GK); Walker, Stones, Guéhi; Saka (Konsa 90+3’), Mainoo (Gallagher 90+3’), Rice, Trippier (Shaw 46’); Bellingham, Foden (Palmer 80’); Kane (C) (Watkins 81’).
Netherlands (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen (GK); Dumfries (Zirkzee 90+3’), de Vrij, van Dijk, Aké; Schouten, Reijnders; Malen (Weghorst 46’), Simons (Brobbey 90+3’), Gakpo; Depay (Veerman 35’).
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