Alan Shearer believes the timing of Gareth Southgate’s substitutions made all the difference in England’s penalty shootout win over Switzerland on Saturday.
Despite a new system and improved performance, the Three Lions still didn’t find their true attacking rhythm and were forced all the way to spot-kicks after Bukayo Saka sealed a 1-1 comeback draw in normal time.
But England went on to record a perfect shootout, with Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold all firing home, while Jordan Pickford’s save to deny Manuel Akanji helped seal a 5-3 win.
Although this was England’s third win in four shootouts under Southgate, it was their first attempt since losing the Euro 2020 final from the spot against Italy.
Demons have been banished and according to Shearer, the difference was Southgate bringing the likes of Palmer, Alexander-Arnold and Toney off the bench earlier, giving them a chance to get into the game before taking a penalty.
By contrast, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford both missed in the Euro 2020 final shootout having had just four touches of the ball combined after coming on as late substitutes.
“Relief is the first thing I feel whenever England win any penalty shootout but for our players against Switzerland on Saturday, it did not seem to be a problem,” former Newcastle and England striker Shearer — an expert from the spot himself during his playing days, netting 45 spot-kicks for the Magpies alone — wrote in his column for BBC Sport.
“Pressure? What pressure. They all put away perfect penalties, and it was wonderful to watch.
“Gareth deserves a lot of credit for that, because you have to bear in mind what happened in the final of the last European Championship, when we lost a shootout against Italy three years ago.
“That night, he did not make changes to bring his takers on quickly enough. Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho only came on in the final seconds of extra-time, and both of them missed from the spot.
“This time, I thought Gareth’s timing of bringing on Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold with a few minutes left gave them enough time to be settled down for the shootout, as they both showed when they stepped up.
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“Whenever I watch a shootout, I feel sorry for the players because I have been there and I know how hard it is, but England’s players made it look easy.
“A big part of that is down to Gareth getting them ready for this situation. He’s been there and missed a penalty, at Euro ’96, so he knows what it feels like as a player to step up under that kind of pressure, and, as a manager, he knows the right preparation is absolutely key to dealing with it.
“He has given them a plan, and they stuck to it and did exactly what they had been practising.
“Look at Cole Palmer. He had not started an England game until six weeks ago – now all of a sudden, he is stepping up first in a European Championship quarter-final with around 20 million people watching back home, and he just sticks it away like he is playing with his mates in the park.”
England must now prepare for their third major tournament semi-final and fourth semi-final in total under Southgate, taking on the Netherlands in Dortmund on Wednesday.
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