England are into the Euro 2024 final after Ollie Watkins hammered home an injury-time winner against the Netherlands to send the nation into raptures . Spain now await in the showpiece on Sunday as the Three Lions try to end a 58-year major tournament drought. Watkins emerged from the bench to score the winner, which was assisted by fellow substitute Cole Palmer .
It’s far from the first time at this tournament that Gareth Southgate has altered the outcome of a match with his changes, yet his reputation as a cautious manager who refuses to utilise his subs seems to persist. During every England game, the cries across pubs, living rooms and social media insist that the England boss make immediate changes by bringing on a very specific player that the armchair manager knows for sure will definitely, 100 per cent win the Three Lions the game. Of course, this is a different player for each armchair manager but the certainty is always there.
Then, the ‘hilarious’ memes of Southgate wearing a life jacket in the shower or a helmet on an exercise bike to signal his excessive caution will be fired around WhatsApp groups, normally accompanied by scathing wit such as “lol, this is so true.” But is Southgate’s reputation underserved? Here we look at every substitution he has made throughout Euro 2024, rating and ranking each one to find out exactly which changes have been the most impactful: Let’s start by discarding all those substitutions simply made to run out the clock .
