Former Liverpool and Germany defender Markus Babbel has praised England manager Gareth Southgate for the changes he has made during Euro 2024.
The Three Lions booked their place in back-to-back finals of the tournament after beating the Netherlands in dramatic fashion on Wednesday night.
Ollie Watkins came on and scored a last-minute winner to break Dutch hearts after they had gone 1-0 up early on in the match.
It was another inspired substitution from Southgate, who has been leaning on his bench to get England over the line.
And Babbel, who was speaking exclusively to 101GreatGoals on behalf of NewBettingOffers, has been impressed with the head coach.
He said: “What I see is, okay, the team had a massive problem.
Spain 🆚 England
Berlin. Sunday.#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/f1NqmQfOpO
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 10, 2024
“They were not performing, they looked tired, they looked not as a team. And he changed something, and this is what good managers do.
“So he changed to three at the back, he brought Phil Foden inside and since he’s playing as a number 10, he’s a different kind of player.
“You can see he has so much fun, he’s a brilliant player, Bellingham as well. He looked awful in the games before.
“So it looks so much better now. It’s not perfect, but it looks so much better.
“That’s the reason I think that this is not the end of the line for the process and where they are.
“This is a massive impact of the manager. He saw it. He recognised. ‘Ok, we have a problem What can we do?’
“Against Switzerland. It was better than before. It wasn’t good. It still needed luck on your side to beat them on penalties but it looked much better than against Slovakia and it was great for me to see.
“He thought to himself, okay, ‘We have to change something. I think the team will not win this tournament if we stay in the same system. So we have to change something’, and well done, top.”
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One more big call
❤️#EURO2024 | #NEDENG pic.twitter.com/TSstgqSOBU
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 10, 2024
England will face Spain in Berlin and Southgate may have one final major call to make.
Kieran Trippier started again at left wing-back against the Netherlands but was replaced by Luke Shaw at half-time.
The Manchester United man finally looks back to full fitness after spending most of the tournament recovering from a long-term injury.
But it remains a mystery whether he will come in front the start on Sunday, and Babbel can see both sides of the argument.
He added: “I don’t know how Gareth Southgate is thinking. Maybe he brings Luke Shaw in because he’s a little bit more defensive. A bit stronger in the back.
“I think he will stay exactly with the same team how he started against the Netherlands because I think it shows before he is always giving these guys the confidence to start.
“Then in the game, I will change something because he sees something different. I think it’s not a bad idea with a right-footer on the left side, because (Lamine) Yamal is a lefty, he wants to go inside.
“He’s not this type of winger who is always going to the end of the line and try to cross. This is not his game.”
England’s time
The heartbreak of the Euro 2020 final will be at the forefront of every England fan’s mind heading into 2024’s showpiece but the feeling is different this time.
Babbel knows what it is like to win the tournament, having done so with Germany at the old Wembley Stadium in 1996.
He says it is the best feeling and that every player will be desperate to become a legend back home.
He added: “It’s the best feeling you can have. So we had the luck, we played in in England, in the old Wembley Stadium.
“This final in Germany is in Berlin. Massive stadium, great atmosphere there, so that’s brilliant. And you have a massive chance to do something special for your country.
“I recognised later on what I did in this time, because if you’re in a final, you want to win.
“One more” ☝️#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/FD0k4Eqrua
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 11, 2024
“You play in Germany, in beautiful stadiums great atmospheres in the stadium, everything is fine, exactly what we had in 1996 in England..
“And if you can win on Sunday, for England, after how many years since the last trophy, 1966 was the last time, you can do something very, very special for your country.
“You have to give everything on this day because you have the massive chance to be a legend for many years because you are the guys who won.
“You won the World Cup, but it’s the first time that you have the chance to win the European Championship.”
The Euro 2024 final will kick-off in Berlin at 8pm on Sunday.
