Roy Keane has reiterated his stance on England’s progress at Euro 2024 after insisting there is no chance Gareth Southgate will change his approach. Despite a series of lacklustre displays, Southgate’s side have managed to claw their way into the semi-finals.
There have been demands for Southgate to implement significant changes, both in terms of tactics and team selection. However, with the Three Lions just two victories away from Euros glory, it seems unlikely that the manager will alter his strategy for the semi-final clash against the Netherlands in Dortmund.
Manchester United legend Keane has previously stated that it would be unwise to overhaul England’s current approach. Ahead of the quarter-final against Switzerland, he commented: “If you think Gareth and his staff are going to fix that in the next two weeks you’re living in cuckoo land. Move on to the next game. They’ve got some momentum. Football’s about winning at the top level.”
However, he also said that England have a decent chance of going all the way in Germany: “It’s embarrassing at the moment but that’s what happens sometimes. It’s about surviving, it’s about staying in the competition. They’re staying in the fight. England keep swinging. I wouldn’t be writing England off, far from it.”
England advanced with a penalty shootout win over the Swiss, with Keane asserting they are in a “great place” ahead of the face-off with the Netherlands. Speaking on Stick to Football: The Overlap Special, sponsored by Sky Bet, he reiterated his claim from before the Switzerland game: “If you’re in that England camp it’s about peaking at the right time, staying in games.
“They’ve got match winners, even [Bukayo] Saka’s goal [against Switzerland], players producing that was world class. Even the penalties, the lads coming off the bench scoring goals. If you’re Gareth and the players, I’m telling you, it’s going along nicely.”
Keane confidently declared his belief that England would get past Switzerland, saying: “I never thought England would lose. How they get there, you never know how it’s going to be it’s going to be tight, maybe a mistake, or penalties.
“We talk about going back to our own careers the cup runs we had, and there’s games we look back on, maybe two or three games, there’s other teams who have played a lot better.
“There are teams playing worse than England who were still in the tournament. We can go back to the French, a couple of days ago we said Austria have great players, they are out of it. That’s just the nature of sport.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk