'The players froze' - Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher slams England's Euro 2024 effort

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has turned his focus to the England player’s performances rather than Gareth Southgate after their crushing Euro 2024 final defeat.

England fell to a second consecutive European Championships final defeat, losing out 2-1 to Spain in Berlin. A late strike from Mikel Oyarzabal broke English hearts, minutes after Cole Palmer had brought Southgate’s side level. And Carragher, speaking in his column in the Telegraph, claims that it was the players, rather than the manager, who need to be criticised.

“Gareth Southgate remains the right man to lead the country to the 2026 World Cup. He should not be scapegoated for the Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain.” He began. “Judging the game in the immediate, emotional aftermath, we have to admit it was a poor display. This is no hard luck story. We cannot disguise how poor England have been throughout the tournament.

“But I am going to remain consistent and argue the failure when it mattered came down to the players failing to deliver. They didn’t play with enough courage. England’s stars froze and could never impose themselves on an excellent Spain team.

“I’ve played in enough games where I could see players hiding and refusing to show themselves to take possession, hoping something will come from long, hopeful balls. Over eight years with a record of two finals and a semi-final, Southgate has earned the right to decide the right time to go for himself. In the absence of an obvious successor, to me he still has unfinished business.“

Neither of Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold or Joe Gomez featured in the final, with the latter not receiving any minutes across the tournament. Gomez, who played most of the season at left-back for Liverpool, had to watch on as Kieran Trippier played out of position in that role for the first four games of the competition.

While Alexander-Arnold, who started both of their opening two games, was dropped for Conor Gallagher after failing to impress in midfield - a position in which he has never had any real experience with. The duo will now take a much-needed break before returning to pre-season under Arne Slot to begin preparations for next season.