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'England bound for glorious failure' | Mark Lawrenson

Former Ireland and Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson believes England will crash and burn in the la...



Soccer

'England bound for glorious failure' | Mark Lawrenson

Former Ireland and Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson believes England will crash and burn in the latter stages of Euro 2020.

England head into this summers delayed tournament as close second or joint-favourites alongside France. England have a comparably young and inexperienced squad but will play the majority of their games at Wembley.

The delaying of the tournament could be seen as a positive for Gareth Southgate, as it allowed young talents such as Phil Foden, Mason Mount and Jude Bellingham, amongst others, the time to develop further.

Speaking on OTBAM on Tuesday, Lawrenson said he feels the media pressure and playing at home will be to the detriment of the nascent England squad.

“If you look at the red tops, they’re expecting England to win, and I don’t know what they’re basing it on.

“As we know, in major competitions, they’ve been awful, apart from the World Cup [2018], where they were lauded.

“But if you look at the games that England won in that World Cup and the games that they lost, they beat a lot of ordinary teams, and when they played good teams, they got beat.”

Lawrenson added that the plethora of attacking options at Gareth Southgate’s disposal might hamper the balance and cohesion of his team.

"I’m just not sure about England; I’m really not. I’m not sure if they know their best team.

"I’m going to go ‘glorious failure’, which means out in the semi's."

Lawrenson concluded that his time covering England over the years has been nothing short of frantic.

"I’ve spent so many years covering England, and it’s mad. The whole bandwagon of following England is just bonkers. They win a game, and it’s like, ‘wow, they’re the best team in the world’, and they are so not, but hey, it’s something they’ve got to deal with."

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England Euro 2020 Gareth Southgate Mark Lawrenson