Bellingham given suspended ban and fine for gestureSouthgate set to switch to back three against Switzerland Gareth Southgate has said he will not take the emotion out of Jude Bellingham’s game after Uefa punished the midfielder for his lewd celebration against Slovakia with a €30,000 fine (£25,400) and a suspended one‑match ban that leaves him free to play in England’s quarter-final against Switzerland. Bellingham was investigated after being shown on television kissing his right hand and making a crotch-grabbing action after his ­spectacular stoppage-time goal kept England in the Euros. The 21-year-old said it was “an inside joke gesture towards some close friends who were at the game” and in no way aimed at the Slovakia bench, but he has been sanctioned after Uefa’s control, ethics and disciplinary body found him guilty of “violating the basic rules of decent conduct”. Continue reading...

He created an environment in which players could flourish yet Gareth Southgate has become a lightning rod for rage They have a word for it in German: der Briefcasetrainerparadigm, a phrase used to describe a person who is self-evidently good at what they do, but who is still universally regarded as a disaster. OK, there is no such actual word word. The phrase “there’s a German word for it” is in itself a longstanding red flag, what the Germans call a Fake-Deutsche-Langeswort-Intro. But the concept of how exactly to define or put a scale on success feels very current as Gareth Southgate prepares his team to face Switzerland on Saturdayevening in Düsseldorf. Continue reading...

Fans have dragged lacklustre side over the line in Germany and are prepared to do the same again on Saturday Talk among the English, in recent days, has been of change. After a period of chaos and instability, where nothing appeared to be working, there was now the chance to turn the page. Would the opportunity be taken? Would Gareth Southgate switch to a three at the back? As many as 30,000 England supporters are expected to descend on Düsseldorf this weekend as the Three Lions take on Switzerland for a place in the semi-finals of the men’s European Championship. If the team wins, it would cement Southgate’s position, in his 100th game in charge, as the most successful England manager since Sir Alf Ramsey. Yet the mood among fans and pundits has been hostile, with only a remarkable last minute overhead kick from Jude Bellingham preventing the ignominy of being sent home by Slovakia in the round of 16. Continue reading...

Gareth Southgate is approaching his 100th game, so it is time to test your knowledge of the England boss.

Defender hopes shift in Gareth Southgate’s side can fire them past Switzerland on Saturday into the semi-finals Some teams never know when they are beaten. Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid are kings of the comeback, Liverpool had Jürgen Klopp’s mentality monsters and Manchester United had all those last-minute winners under Sir Alex Ferguson. As for John Stones, his mind always goes straight back to the day Manchester City almost threw the title away on the final day of the 2021-22 season. Two-nil down to Aston Villa with 14 minutes left, Pep Guardiola’s team were in danger of handing the trophy to Liverpool before goals from Rodri and Ilkay Gündogan inspired an incredible turnaround. Continue reading...

System tried in training with Konsa as Guéhi replacementStones says he is fit despite knee strapping in training John Stones is confident England are capable of a seamless switch to a back three if Gareth Southgate presses ahead with plans to change formation in Saturday’s quarter-final against Switzerland. Marc Guéhi’s one-game ban has forced England into at least one defensive change and it is understood they have used training sessions this week to trial a return to the system that carried them to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup. Continue reading...

England forward Phil Foden says the team's players "need to take some of the blame" for poor performances and that he "feels sorry" for under pressure manager Gareth Southgate.

Centre-forward came on late in last 16 and knows he will have to bide his time again in quarter-final Few top sides play with two up front these days. Some prefer to use a false 9. At Euro 2024, there have been suggestions that no task in football is more thankless than having to be Harry Kane’s back-up. England’s captain always starts. Gareth Southgate has not drawn on the memory of Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham’s partnership at Euro 96. His preference is to have Kane leading the line on his own, with Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka supporting him from attacking midfield. Continue reading...

Lionesses face Republic of Ireland and SwedenTwo wins would guarantee Euros qualification Sarina Wiegman says it feels “strange” to be preparing for two crucial European Championship qualifiers in the middle of the summer off-season, but that her England team are fully focused on ensuring they qualify for next summer’s finals in Switzerland. Wiegman’s Lionesses have been in her homeland, the Netherlands, since Monday for a training camp, ahead of qualifiers against the Republic of Ireland at Carrow Road next Friday, 12 July, and away to Sweden in Gothenburg on Tuesday 16 July, knowing that two victories would guarantee the defending champions automatic qualification. Continue reading...

Forward was a surprise inclusion in Swiss squad for Euros but has already made his mark on the tournament He was the first player born in England to score at the European Championship this summer and on Saturday, for a place in the semi-finals, Kwadwo Duah will play … England. The 27-year-old, who was raised in Islington, London, but moved to Switzerland with his parents aged two, is a Chelsea supporter and among those perplexed at Cole Palmer’s lack of minutes in Germany. “He did a very, very good season last year,” says Duah. “I’m also thinking: ‘Why is he not playing?’ Because his stats were perfect. Let’s see if he starts at the weekend. I would say I’m a big Chelsea fan, my idol is Didier Drogba. I follow the Premier League.” Switzerland have never made it as far as a tournament semi-finals but impressed against hosts Germany in the group stage, knocked out the holders, Italy, in the last 16 and are unbeaten in eight matches, so Duah does not expect Gareth Southgate’s side to underestimate them in Dusseldorf. “I don’t think so because I think they will have watched the game against Italy and we were pretty good,” he says, smiling. “So I don’t think they will do that. We want to show what we can and we want to play our game. We will see [what happens].” Continue reading...

Telling young players to stop online interaction is all but impossible, but real connection requires effort and empathy Umberto Eco made a provocative statement about social media when receiving an honorary degree in Turin in 2015: it “gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community. Then they were quickly silenced, but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel prize winner.” While I do not entirely agree with this sentiment, there is some truth to it, particularly in the realm of football, where social media has significantly altered the share of voice between clubs and some fans. I missed the Denmark v England game owing to a work commitment but ventured online to gauge reactions to England being top of their group in the Euros. The vitriol against Gareth Southgate after the draw was incredible. Our most successful national manager since 1966 became the target of memes about boredom, safety and mediocrity. Simultaneously, Steve Cooper, one of the most progressive and well-respected British coaches, was appointed by Leicester City. A tweet from someone with 400 followers saying “What happened to his face?” garnered 1.5m views. The fury directed at Southgate during the win against Slovakia that took his team to a fourth consecutive major tournament quarter-final was remarkable. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

All the latest news as we look ahead to the quarter-finalsFootball Daily podcast | Golden Boot | And email Tom Some transfer talk now: it’s been a busy summer among Europe’s biggest clubs in the women’s game and Sky is reporting that Chelsea are close to agreeing terms with Lucy Bronze after the full-back’s departure from Barcelona. There’s more than a few good men out there. Here’s our old mate Krishna Moorthy with a cinematic retread: Football Fan: I think I am entitled to the truth. Gareth Southgate: You can’t handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has fields, and those fields have to be populated by men with skills. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Gary Lineker? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Grealish, and you curse the manager. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know -- that Grealish’s drop, while tragic, probably saved games; and my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, gets you to semis. Continue reading...

Gareth Southgate’s team need to improve against Switzerland – and there is plenty of scope for doing so It is easy to play through England at the moment. Gareth Southgate has talked about a high press being a core part of his team’s identity but it has not functioned properly at Euro 2024. Harry Kane, who is meant to be leading from the front, has looked lethargic and the issue has been exacerbated by Jude Bellingham’s wandering. Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Good Will Hunting is a great movie for many reasons. Robin Williams’ outstanding performance, Ben Affleck’s petty squabbling with his on-screen and actual brother, the fact that Affleck and Matt Damon’s Oscar-winning screenplay is actually (a little bit) autobiographical – both hailing from Massachusetts, Affleck’s father was a janitor at Harvard, while his mother went to the university, as did Damon, before dropping out. The film is a great watch, a classic and pleasing arc of self-discovery, with a happy-ish ending that avoids the pitfall of being too twee. The protagonist (Will, played by Damon) is a complete eejit – sucker-punching people, fighting police, insulting his mentor’s dead wife, ignoring the time and energy of others while taking his seemingly god-given talent for granted – but we end up rooting for him anyway, because genius is a bewitching and beguiling thing. Further to Peter Oh’s comparison between Glastonbury’s Saturday night headliners Coldplay and 11 other English plodders (yesterday’s Euro 2024 Daily letters), I was at the Pyramid Stage the next afternoon, with an anxious eye on Rob Smyth’s MBM for the England game. As extra time began, Janelle Monáe began to play Tightrope, and by the time I had a phone signal again, it was 1-1. I’d like to think it was this bit of musical serendipity that kept England in the tournament, though the song’s lyrics – “Ha ‘cause you get too high, no you’ll surely be low” – don’t bode well for the quarter-final” – Ian Rodin. It seems clear that since Brexit happened, all the bile and fury previously directed at EU apparatchiks now flies around our society like the contents of Spud’s bedsheet. I therefore call on Gareth Southgate to perform one last great sacrifice for his country, and stay on as England manager For All Time, so that he becomes the eternal lightning rod for all the anger and frustration of the English people. This will allow us to go about our lives in an atmosphere of calm and goodwill toward our neighbours, knowing that an opportunity for a spittle-flecked rant is only ever the next England game away” – Chris Goater. Looking towards the conclusion of the Euros, if it ended up as a Germany v Switzerland final (not impossible), this would work wonders for the self-esteem of the Tartan Army. Why, a defeat and a draw against the finalists? That’s as good as third place surely? Surely?” – Ken Muir. Continue reading...