Newcastle United defender Kieran Trippier was an unused substitute as England lost the Euro 2024 final to Spain on Sunday.
The Three Lions were beaten 2-1 by Spain in Berlin, as football failed to come home once again. England have now lost back-to-back European Championship finals, having also fell short against Italy in 2021.
Gareth Southgate failed to get over the line at Euro 2024, having opted to make one change to his starting XI for the final.
Kieran Trippier was initially expected to start against Spain, but Southgate seemingly had a change of heart. Luke Shaw came in for Trippier, with the Manchester United defender starting his first game since February.
Kieran Trippier was ready to come on for England
While Trippier did not start against Spain, it did look like the Newcastle United player was going to come on.
With about five minutes left to play, Southgate was preparing a double substitution. Trippier and Conor Gallagher were ready to be introduced, but that plan was scrapped when Mikel Oyarzabal prodded home what proved to be the winner.
As he suddenly chased the game, Southgate decided to bring on Ivan Toney instead. It was an attacking change out of desperation, but it failed to make a difference.
Gary Lineker questions what Gareth Southgate was going to do
Trippier will be disappointed not to have featured – especially since he was about to come on.
But Gary Lineker has questioned that proposed decision on The Rest Is Football podcast, and thinks it sums up England’s inability to press on after getting back into the game through Cole Palmer.
“Palmer scores that wonderful goal and you think ‘right, press on’ but no, we started sitting again,” he said.
“Let’s put it this way, just before the goal was scored, on the sideline coming on were Conor Gallagher and Kieran Trippier. That says it all.
“If you’re 2-1 up with four minutes to go, maybe, but what is he thinking there? Is he thinking he’s shoring it up because he’s worried about them.”
Newcastle defender coming on would have been a negative change
While it was a shame for Trippier that he did not feature, it was a shock to see that he was set to come on alongside Conor Gallagher.
It certainly would not have been an inspiring substitution – especially if Trippier was going to come on for Shaw.
If that was going to be the change, it summed up why Trippier should have started. Picking Shaw made it harder for Southgate to make a positive change later in the game, due to the fact there was no other recognised left-back. Trippier likely would have came on and played out of position, and that would have made it even more difficult for England to attack down that flank.
Trippier is an exceptional defender and is great at attacking on his stronger side, but he cannot influence things offensively down the left.
In the end, Southgate did not even get the chance to make a seemingly negative change. Spain grabbed a late and deserved winner, breaking English hearts in the process.
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