by Jamie Redknapp has criticized England’s performance at the World Cup – saying he thinks they should have done better with the depth of the squad at their disposal.
England were knocked out in the quarter-finals by then-reigning world champions France, although they received praise for their level of performance having appeared to pin their opponents for much of the game.
If it hadn’t been for a penalty missed by Harry Kane, England might have taken France into extra time and could have qualified.
Jamie Redknapp says England could – and should – have done better than they did in Qatar
Breaking with convention somewhat, Redknapp said “any manager” could have done what Gareth Southgate did and there were “many” coaches who could do an “equally good job”.
“I don’t buy into this feeling that England had a very good World Cup,” he told Sky Sports.
“Reaching the quarter-finals was not a great achievement and I don’t think we should celebrate that.
England were knocked out by then defending champions France in a crushing defeat
“When I watch France and Argentina in the World Cup final, you think it could have been us. Argentina are a very good team but not out of this world. Lionel Messi gave them a point of difference and was the reason they won.
“If you look at the France team, it’s one of the weakest France teams we’ve seen. When I played against them in 1998, they had Zinedine Zidane, Emmanuel Petit, Patrick Vieira and Didier Deschamps as captain – they were players who could turn the game around.
“France didn’t have Karim Benzema, they didn’t have N’Golo Kante. They had Kylian Mbappe who gave them the X factor.’
He added that he felt England would “never have a better chance” of beating them than the opportunity that presented itself in the quarter-finals in Qatar.
Redknapp (L) said the talented England side were up to the two eventual finalists
“We have some great young players and we’ve come closer, but that’s where the frustration lies. I look at the two teams that made it to the final, we’re just as good as them,” he said. added.
Meanwhile, speaking of Southgate, Redknapp apparently criticized his in-game decisions – something he’s been lambasted for in the past – and hinted there might be other England managers there. who could do an equal, or perhaps even better, job to that which he did.
“He’s done a good job, Gareth Southgate. But we shouldn’t think there’s no one else there. There will be plenty of good managers who will do an equally good job,” a- he declared.
The former England midfielder has praised the talent of Southgate’s young squad members
“Any young English Premier League manager worth his salt would have taken England to the quarter-finals, when you look at the teams we faced.”
“If you looked at the candidates right now you would see Graham Potter at Chelsea, Eddie Howe is doing a great job at Newcastle. Frank Lampard, who has a great history of playing for England, is at Everton. worked for Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa, but any of them could have done as good a job as Southgate.
It was announced by the Football Association in a statement on Sunday that Southgate would continue in his role, with his current deal taking him to the end of Euro 2024.
Some had thought he would leave.
Having agreed to stay, Redknapp said Southgate must now ‘make the most of’ the talent at their disposal
Redknapp encouraged Southgate to “make the most of” the opportunity given to him – or won – and harness the talent of the team to go beyond the quarter-finals at the next major tournament.
“Gareth is not stupid, he knows that there are euros that we have a great chance of winning and that we will improve more and more – so why pass on the baton and give this chance to someone d ‘other ?”
“Now Gareth has had that opportunity again – make the most of it.” Let’s not be happy to finish in the quarter-finals, we should expect more.
