Armchair Quarterback? Carragher: In the Year-end Final Against Italy, Southgate Should Have Substituted Kane

England has eliminated the Netherlands and advanced to the EURO final, where they will face Spain. As the Three Lions once again reach the EURO final, former England international Jamie Carragher shared his thoughts through a Telegraph column, “Three years ago in the EURO final, when England was leading 1-0 against Italy, Southgate should have substituted Kane. In the recently concluded match, Southgate replaced Kane with Watkins, a significant decision.”

Carragher believes that Southgate’s tenure as England manager can be encapsulated by two moments: one being the moment he didn’t substitute Kane, and the other being the moment he did.

Carragher wrote that before the semi-final, he recalled England’s EURO final against Italy in 2021. That night’s match at Wembley Stadium, one of the reasons England lost was because Southgate failed to replace Kane with a faster, more energetic forward – what we often refer to as a “finisher.”

Moreover, Carragher clearly stated, “Many analyzing the final between England and Italy believed the ultimate loss was due to negative play and attitude; this is not the case. In reality, England’s strategy was sound enough, it was just that Kane couldn’t pose a threat to Italy on counterattacks.”

On the other hand, Carragher praised Southgate’s inspired substitution in the semi-final, “We saw a difference in Southgate of 2024 compared to 2021. Moving forward, in the match against Spain, we have every reason to be hopeful, especially with players like Phil Foden improving each game. May England achieve their goal.”