BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton has called out England manager Gareth Southgate for a decision that went “badly wrong” over one Manchester United star.
England, who are considered one of the tournament favourites, will face Switzerland on Saturday in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 in Germany.
The Three Lions reached the last eight after scraping a late 2-1 comeback win over Slovakia in the round of 16 last weekend.
Jude Bellingham rescued England from crashing out of this summer’s Euros after he scored an overhead kick in injury time at the Veltins-Arena.
The Real Madrid star cancelled out Ivan Schranz’s first-half opener for Slovakia before Harry Kane fired England into the lead in the first half of extra time.
Gareth Southgate, who was previously linked with Manchester United, has faced mounting criticism over England’s disappointing performances at the Euros.
England managed a 1-0 win over Serbia in their Group C opener before the Three Lions were held to a 1-1 draw against Denmark.
Southgate’s men appeared toothless in their 0-0 performance against Slovenia, but England still managed to top Group C with only one win and two draws.
Sutton baffled by Man Utd star call
Gareth Southgate made the decision to leave Marcus Rashford out of the England squad for Euro 2024 after the Manchester United star’s disappointing season.
Former United captain Harry Maguire, who was a key player for Southgate, was also forced to miss the Euros after withdrawing from international duty due to an injury.
Southgate included Kobbie Mainoo in his England squad and the United midfielder impressed with his performance against Slovakia in the last 16.
The Three Lions manager also made the risky decision to include Luke Shaw in his England squad, despite the United defender being injured.
Luke Shaw missed the second half of the season at Old Trafford due to injury and the United star has been in a race to recover from his period on the sidelines.
The 28-year-old is England’s only specialist left-back at the tournament, with Southgate forced to play Newcastle right-back Kieran Trippier in the role.
Shaw has not made a single appearance for England at the tournament and Chris Sutton claimed that Southgate’s decision to take the “risk” went “badly wrong.”
“There are still plenty of areas where England need to get better,” he wrote in his column for the BBC Sport.
“I hate their lack of balance on the left-hand side. Luke Shaw has not played a minute in this tournament yet, and that was a risk that manager Southgate has got badly wrong.
“At the moment, there is not much point dwelling on that. It is all about getting through this game, and England can do it.”
Sutton predicts England vs Switzerland
Despite England’s inconsistent performances, Sutton has backed the Three Lions to beat Switzerland 1-0 and punch their tickets to the semi-finals.
“I still want to see Cole Palmer start on the right because he offers something different creatively and looks so at ease with himself, but it is pretty obvious that won’t happen,” he said.
“We will see one change at the back because Marc Guehi is suspended, and Ezri Konsa will probably come in, which is fine, but that will be it.
“I am not expecting England to do very much different from what we’ve seen so far.
“England are a bits-and-pieces team and are not going to suddenly turn into a side like Spain who play some beautiful football, but they have so much talent that they should still have too much for the Swiss.”