Gareth Southgate said there was “no hiding” from England’s fitness issues at Euro 2024 and admitted Harry Kane was unable to reach his best level in Germany.
Southgate’s side have been dogged by physical concerns since before they left for Euro 2024 at the start of June and rarely looked as sharp as their Spanish opponents in Sunday’s final defeat.
Captain Kane missed the end of Bayern Munich’s season while LaLiga’s player of the season Jude Bellingham faded in the second half of the campaign, with 18 of his 23 club goals coming before the turn of the year.
The England manager, who refused to talk about his future following the game, may come under scrutiny over whether he could have better utilised his squad – or taken another left-back given Luke Shaw’s long-term injury absence.
But speaking to ITV Sport, he said: “There’s no hiding we’ve had some issues coming into the tournament, we’ve managed to deal with most of them and got Luke [Shaw] out tonight, but we’ve just fallen short in the end.
“It’s probably both [a success and missed opportunity], frankly. The players have got to take enormous credit to get us to the point we did, but when you get as close as that you’ve got to take your chances.
“The character, the resilience they’ve shown, I just think tonight we didn’t keep the ball well enough. They had more control of the game and that was probably the main difference. I just think against Spain, they press well, you have to keep the ball when you win it back.
“Defensively we were fine in the first half, you just have to retain the ball a little bit better. In the end, maybe that’s the bit that takes a little bit out.”
In his subsequent press conference, Southgate added: “We couldn’t play through the counter-press well enough and didn’t use the ball well until we were a goal down.
“We had a decent period and got the equaliser, but I think the physical toll of the issues we came into the tournament with, the extra-time periods, having as little of the ball as we did tonight ultimately took a big toll and I think that was part of the reason why legs started to go and you start to make mistakes.
“The players have pushed it until the 85th minute of the final game, they’ve been incredible really.”
Southgate: Physically, it’s been tough for Kane
Kane scored three goals at the finals without ever finding his best form
Southgate took the bold decision to take off captain Kane, England’s record goalscorer, with an hour played in the hope replacement Ollie Watkins could repeat his heroics which had seen off the Netherlands in such dramatic fashion on Wednesday night.
It marked a disappointing end to a mixed tournament for Kane, who ended in a six-way tie for the Golden Boot but looked off the pace for long periods and struggled to exert his normally impressive all-round game on the competition.
Southgate told BBC Sport: “Physically, it’s been a tough period for Harry [Kane]. He came in short of games and didn’t quite get up to the level we’d all hope.
“We felt Ollie’s freshness would allow us to press a bit better and offer us a threat in behind. I thought they both did what we wanted.”
Kane himself reflected: “It’s been a tough tournament. We’ve had to show a lot of resilience, me personally and the team.
“It’s been a difficult ride and we’ve done extremely well to get here. But ultimately we’re going to be judged on this game.
“We wanted to do it so badly for ourselves and the fans, and everyone who’s believed in us the whole way.
“Right now, it’s just huge disappointment.”