Ollie Watkins should be fuming at what Gareth Southgate has said after England lose Euro 2024 final

Aston Villa duo Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa suffered heartache as England were beaten by Spain in the final of Euro 2024 on Sunday.

Make no bones about it, Spain, who had won every match leading up to the finale in Berlin, were just too good for the Three Lions and deserved their 2-1 victory.

Many were hoping Ollie Watkins’ late winner for England against the Netherlands could inspire the nation to end their 58-year wait to win a trophy, but that still rumbles on and you now wonder if it will ever end.

Ollie Watkins went into the tournament with 27 goals and 13 assists in all competitions, including helping Unai Emery guide Aston Villa to the Champions League.

Yet, by the end of the tournament, he played less than an hour, with captain Harry Kane leading the line and starting every single match. This is despite the Bayern Munich man looking completely off it, playing like he is injured and hardly putting any pressure on the opposition backline.

This isn’t just certain games, for every match, Kane played like he was carrying massive weights on his shoulders and was subbed off on numerous occasions.

Gareth Southgate has now shared that several players just weren’t fit enough to play, as he dropped in the names of Luke Shaw and Kane, as he told talkSPORT.

The England manager, who has now reached back-to-back finals and lost, shared why Watkins was brought on against Spain and the lack of fitness levels in the team.

Gareth Southgate confirms Harry Kane isn’t fit enough

“So many of our players came into the camp having missed the end of the season,” said Southgate.

“We managed to get Luke (Shaw) through 90 minutes when he hasn’t played for four months. We have had Kobbie (Mainoo) as a young player who has done incredibly well. But the amount of football he has had this year. Jude (Bellingham) you could see that we were about to take off because he was cramping as well. That physical toll is definitely an issue for us, with others in the group as well. 

“Harry (Kane) has come into the tournament having had an injury at the end of the season. He has played a lot of minutes. We tried to manage those minutes as well as we could. He has led the team incredibly well. We have lost a lot of leadership from the group, with injuries to Henderson and Maguire. A lot has fallen on Harry’s shoulders. He has done that exceptionally well. We just felt that we needed to get more pressure on their centre-backs and to have the option of a runner in behind, which is why we put Ollie Watkins on when we did.”

Ollie Watkins should be fuming after England’s Euro 2024 final defeat

The 28-year-old has every right to be angry, annoyed and bleeped off because he should have played a lot more.

Everyone saw the energy he brought to the final third when out on the pitch, much more than Kane, who simply wasn’t fit enough to start.

This was affecting England’s performances, yet Kane started every single game!? Watkins was praised for his impact against Spain. Great leaders and managers have the bottle to make brave calls, in the group stages, Kane should have been dropped to the bench because it was obvious that there were issues.

Yet, one of the best players in the Premier League last season, alongside players like Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, spent more time sitting down than trying to help their nation win a trophy. You feel this is the end for Southgate because given the calibre of attacking talent on show, including the depth and the players he can leave out.

A manager of a higher standing. A manager with an attacking brain and someone willing to actually want to score the goal when they are winning 1-0, not defend it, needs to come in because Southgate simply can’t continue and manage the team at the 2026 World Cup.

If he stays on, players like Watkins, and there are many others, Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon and West Ham United’s Jarrod Bowen, will suffer a lot, lot more.