Michael Owen: I would be happy if Southgate made some changes

Bengaluru: Michael Owen isn’t mincing his words. The former England footballer spoke about the England national football team’s performance at Euro 2024 and also touched on some of the current rising stars in a conversation organised by Sony.

In his speech about the tournament, Owen mentioned that the unequal draw had allowed the “insider picks” to prove their skills against higher-ranked teams.

“It was a really interesting tournament. A lot of the stronger teams were put on one side and that gave the teams on the other side a chance, some underdogs. There could be an upset on that side. I thought France were the likely winners but they have some tough games ahead of them now so it could be difficult for them. I still think they are the best team in the world. Spain were the most noticeable,” Owen said.

England struggled to reach the quarter-finals after a mediocre performance in the group stage and a late turnaround against Slovakia in the round of 16. Owen admitted that Gareth Southgate’s team did not inspire confidence but could definitely improve their performance in the future.

“England have obviously struggled a lot. They need to improve or they won’t win, but we all know they can be better. The good thing is that we know England are better. We know they can do even better and if they get better they have a very good chance of winning this tournament,” Owen said.

“When you play badly four times, you worry why you can’t do it a fifth time. I would love it if Southgate made a few changes (against Switzerland in the quarter-finals).”

“The pressure on these players is enormous – they could have been just 30 seconds away from being eliminated from the tournament – and the criticism must have been enormous,” added the 44-year-old.

The 2001 Ballon d’Or winner claimed the coveted award aged just 22, making him the second youngest player to win the award. Owen spoke about the “next generation” of players who can dominate and how the competition can enable players like France’s Kylian Mbappe to constantly improve.

“I think we’ll be very entertained over the next decade by quality players like (Jude) Bellingham, (Jamal) Musiala and (Lamine) Yamal. We always like to see the next generation – young players who are very exciting and capable at this level,” Owen said.

Kylian Mbappe will be one of the greatest players. We have seen two players who have pushed each other (Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi) and stayed at the top for a long time while putting up numbers we have never seen before. Maybe he (Mbappe) needs someone else to push him like Messi and Ronaldo have done throughout their careers,” he added.

Owen expected France to beat Portugal and mentioned that Spain was capable of beating hosts Germany in the quarter-finals.

“Spain face a big challenge against hosts Germany. England have a great record against Switzerland, so you have to expect us to go through. France were not at their best, but they have players for the big moment. I think France will play Portugal.”

“Spain against Germany will be a difficult game and Spain are the better team so far, so it will be a big challenge for the host country,” predicted Owen.