Why Do England Fall Short In Finals? Joe Hart Reveals

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In the wake of England's EURO 2024 final loss, we reflect on our interview in Joe Hart. The retired England stopper opens up about the highs and lows of his international career with the England national team.
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[@stuartrobinson1188]

Poor tactical management maybe? Team selection, delayed response to adversity, continuing to play players that were obviously off form whilst leaving obvious talent on the bench. Spain made a bold choice to play a sixteen year old and it won the the tournament..we played it safe.

[@parmaman8551]

The best teams don't take their foot off the gas when they have momentum. England do.

[@chriskey7440]

England will be dominating and then fall back!! It makes no sense, because they have proper players; Southgate just plays scared too often.

[@joshhenry2389]

If every time you fall the wrong side of tight games then there’s a problem that needs addressing

[@commentarytalk1446]

Hart always used to talk after interviews from conviction (same as some other players now pundits). It sounds convincing and reasonable but it's generally short of a more powerful explanation. For sure, the difference at the top or in a one-off final is often small margins so he's not wrong it's just stating the obvious and not really explaining anything more deeply. With that said if one looks at the Final between England vs Spain at Euro 2024 some interesting match stats are: * Possession: Spain 63% - England 37% * England xG = 0.55 , Spain = 1.75 * England goal attempts 9 vs Spain 15 * England pass completion 78% vs Spain 90% * Attacking Threat during match time: England = 4 major periods which were relatively short vs 7 major periods which were comparatively longer. Ie more attacking domination from Spain eg 2 goals and 3 other good chances from Spain vs 1 goal and 1 other good chance from England product of that sustained pressure. So even with reference to the this final (which Hart was not speaking about specifically as this interview was some time ago) his explanation as stated in the title does not hold ie is not relevant beyond a superficial description of tight-margins at the top eg a few splits of splits separate 100m Sprinters type of comparison. I think a better explanation must be that throughout the tournament England's performance was good in defence but very weak in attack and that led to numerous times where being conservative meant conceding first (always bad for chances of winning) and requiring last minute/late goals to salvage the result while this performance modestly improved only when Southgate made always very late (too late) substitutions. In effect he relied on conservative defence with talent to progress against fortunately weaker sides of the draw in tournaments then came undone against talented players in tactically superior teams than England later on in tournaments. It would almost certainly match the stats eg Spain above if looked at across each tournament. It seems to be a superior way of explaining the recent high talent squad but falling below the top level teams in the world outcomes.

[@Alexg1561-t4m]

As I see it, the problem, ironically, starts in the defence. More specifically, it starts with the keeper. In Pickford, we have a good shot stopper. However, we have a keeper who always opted for the long ball as distribution. The odds of retaining possession following the long ball distribution were shown to be low in the recent Euro 2024 final. The keeper either goes for the short ball because (a) his short-distance distribution is not good or (b) he does not trust his defenders to handle the ball and successfully move it up the pitch along the ground. The defence and keeper are generally good at defending; however, because the distribution and moving the ball up through the lines is so poor, they eventually have to take on multiple rounds of attacks. It is an inevitability and simply a matter of time until the opponents break through. You can't continuously welcome threats without consequences.

[@JudeUgwuegbulam]

I agree @@Alexg1561-t4m. That American sporting adage "offence wins you games, and defence wins you championships". I would add that perhaps Pickford chose (was asked or given the option) to go long because it was "less risky" as Spain was great at pressing. I recall one of the pundits during the Qatar World Cup making your specific point about Pickford's distribution being a weak link in the England team. It frustrated me to see him keep booting the ball upfield! 🙈

[@LukeSkywalker-io2bh]

I agree he talking a load of bollox.

[@user-si3rc4ut8s]

England hasn’t competed at the business end of tournaments enough, making only 3 major finals in history. Germany have made 14 in all, winning 7. 50% win ratio. If England won the next final they played in, they too would have 50%, the same as Germany. So the problem is they haven’t made final enough over history. Make more finals, and they will start winning some.

[@JohnJo-qn7wq]

or they got easy pathways

[@user-si3rc4ut8s]

@@JohnJo-qn7wq this lacks insight.

[@Demandred1971]

What's interesting though is that "Why Do England Fall Short In Finals?" wasn't a question 4 years ago

[@colmd7680]

By Finals they are referring to the tournaments themselves

[@allaballababy]

Because they are usually Lucky to be in a final anyway!

[@badabing8884]

Why are they asking Hart a question on why England fail in finals when he never played in one.

[@Vilutusk]

Neither have you and you still have an opinion. At least he’s an actual England pro 😂

[@prometheustv6558]

Better than losing back to back titles

[@Jakobslander]

I wish I had the answer to England's woes but I reckon that letting go of the coach that put you in a EuroCup final twice in a row is EASILY the worst way to go about it. People in England are extremely critical of Southgate's tactics but the reality of the sport is that bad coaching land a team in a final of a tournament as competitive as the EuroCup. Two times in a row. As simple as that. Finals are won by the players, not the coach. I sincerely hope Southgate comes to Spain. In my opinion, Southgate is the Kroos of the coaching world. You folks have no idea of what you're letting go...

[@1972dsrai]

England did just fall short, but reaching the final in two Euro’s is still a success considering its never reached the final before Southgate’s reign.

[@Chris-mi7dy]

In my opinion, just because previous managers failed, doesn't make Southgate a success. He's had incredibly favourable draws to get to the finals (something that previous managers haven't had). But once getting to the finals, he's not for a second looked like winning either of them

[@martzall6776]

I feel we can sense when watching what the flow of the game is, the balance of the game, how it will likely unfold if things stay the same and what needs to happen to affect the outcome. I understand when in the hot seat there is so much pressure and other factors to weigh up, but fuck me how can we always not get this and seize the moment or at least die trying. A trophy isn’t given to you, it’s taken by force, skill, aggression, intelligence and bravery. I hate being cynical and I believe Southgate has done many things right and well during his tenure but this tournament really was a constant struggle to get behind what we were doing and how toothless we were in attack along with the reluctance to address this that lost many fans and lost us the final

[@3chords490]

Exactly , and if you are going to play low block , negative , defensive football then you had better make damn well sure that you don’t concede easy goals , AND , you had better have some kind of counter attacking outlet or pace up front. Why didn’t Southgate work that out ?

[@welepilis]

Now England is on par with the others maybe a ruthless coach is needed to take the 3 lions over the line

[@ssdabel]

In terms of squad strength, England has always been on par with the best. In terms of tactics and team structure, they were farther than ever now. Had it not been for the favorable draw, they would have been out in the last 16. Conclusion, they need a coach who is also good tactically not just with man management.

[@neilherring]

Since 1966, p until the Southgate era, England had a lot of bad luck. Southgate has had more luck than all the England managers since, and we still couldnt win anything.

[@SAnd-pd1ou]

Not through lack of quality against Iceland 😂😂😂😂😂

[@Marley999888]

England fell short all tournament

[@user-cv7bl1tf9g]

Spain scores the 2 to 1. The play...Nacho cover ball and goes to Laporte, Olmo, Fabián, Oyarzábal, Cuquerella and Oyarzábal scores. All The England team seeing. Zero reaction. Nobody makes nothing. It's incredible in the profesional fútbol a play like Spain finish in the second goal. How about the players? How justify this? And i write from Spain. Last year Spain won The World Cup Women face England. Yesterday The Under 19 too...Spain 3 England 1 You have to change, no?

[@imranuddin5828]

British boys too proud no bowls when it matter

[@shadieskandari3991]

I know why; it’s only because they got lucky in the draw and in the final they’ve got to face a really powerful opponent, so they fall short at that final match😊. This is the only realistic answer. Let’s be honest, they didn’t even deserved to be in the FINAL!

[@jimmyyue238]

England miraculously avoided France who finished second on the group in the semifinal.

[@stevewturnbull]

As a sporting nation, England have a big problem with winning, it's not just confined to football. But I think Southgate epitomised this. He was instinctively cautious and had a nervy manner. I have no doubt this rubbed off on the team. We need a relaxed and confident manager who understands the fundamental importance of a positive mindset - and keeping possession of the ball/creating chances from midfield. The latter is England's other key failing.

[@LukeSkywalker-io2bh]

Talking a load of bollox. England's fundamentals are rubbish. 1. Passing? Did we have a Lamin. No we didn't. 2. Ball control? Did we have lightning quick 1 touch or handling of the ball. No, Spain put us under pressure and we panicked and lost possession a lot. I could go on and on and on. It all comes from fundamentals. We have overhyped. Overpaid players and that's all before I get to the manager who has no clue whatsoever. Well done GS. You played the same players all tournament.

[@SDMotorsports]

Thai don’t answer the question does it

[@markstothard2100]

Southgate

[@kuramobay2445]

England always have to play it safe because the media is like the axe that's always waiting to fall if they crash out of a tournament because someone took a risk or made a bold decision. Anyone who plays sport at a high level knows that risk or a bold decision is a huge part of winning. The spotlight and pressure on the England team is far beyond any of the other national teams and the other teams know it. They know that many of the England players are quaking in their boots and struggle to truly express themselves on the pitch.

[@28copland]

Ye don't have any challenge in qualifying, easy groups all the time and when ye play a decent side eventually in latter stages of tournaments ye have no answers

[@Disinformation_Hoax]

The money, glamour and popularity of Premier league creates the optical illusion of english quality. Overrated. England loses EVERY time to first top team. That's it.

[@alphonsoacqua]

Looks like no-one in the comments knows what "finals" means in international football.

[@peterelsey6238]

Joe hart was useless