Gareth Southgate told he must axe two players for England to win Euro 2024

Gareth Southgate’s England have underwhelmed at Euro 2024 (Picture: Getty)

Gareth Southgate has been told he must axe two England players for the Three Lions to win Euro 2024.

Ex-Germany, Liverpool and Bayern Munich midfielder Didi Hamann has been disappointed by England’s performances so far at the Euros and says they have ‘little hope’ of becoming European champions unless changes are made.

England face Slovakia in Sunday’s 5pm game as they look to advance from the last-16 stage and set up a quarter-final meeting with Switzerland, who knocked out holders Italy.

But the Three Lions will need to improve if they want a deep run in Germany following three underwhelming performances in the group stage.

England laboured to a 1-0 victory over Serbia in their opening Euros game before drawing with Denmark and Slovenia.

Hamman believes several England players are starting to doubt Southgate’s credentials and has called for both Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane to be axed.

Bellingham scored England’s early opener against Serbia but was poor against Denmark and Slovenia, with Hamann now of the opinion that he ‘must’ be dropped by Southgate.

Jude Bellingham has underwhelmed at the Euros (Picture: Getty)

The 21-year-old’s struggles have come as a surprise given he enjoyed a sensational first season at Real Madrid, helping the Spanish giants win La Liga and the Champions League.

Kane has also attracted criticism for his performances at Euro 2024 and Hamann doubts he is still ‘elite’ despite also impressing last season with 44 goals in 45 games for new club Bayern Munich.

‘There are no two opinions about England’s performance at this European Championship,’ Hamann told Sky Germany. ‘The English may have won their group, but they struggled through the preliminary round and were disappointing across the board.

‘A large part, if not the entire English public, has lost faith in the national coach. The players are aware of this, and I can imagine that there are also some doubts within the team.

‘Unless Gareth Southgate changes the team in two or three positions, I see little hope. As a manager, you have to make decisions. If you stick to them consistently, nine times out of ten, a wrong decision will be better than no decision at all.

‘Southgate is letting things go but he has to make a decision. Between Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham only one can play and for me that would be Foden.

‘For me you have to take Bellingham out, Foden in the middle and then Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon on the flanks. And Southgate has to think about what he’s going to do with Harry Kane.

‘With Ollie Watkins you have an agile striker who goes into spaces that Kane doesn’t go into or can’t get to at all. Kane turns 31 in July and has three years left on his contract in Munich.

Didi Hamann criticised Bellingham and Harry Kane (Picture: Getty)

‘Bayern is in a state of upheaval and wants to get back into the world’s elite, but when I look at the world’s elite, Kane’s performance has nothing to do with that.

‘I don’t feel he will be any better for England next time. And I don’t feel he will be any better for Bayern next year. Kane scored 36 Bundesliga goals last season, but when they needed him, he wasn’t there.

‘It’s not Kane’s fault if some of his teammates are too focused on themselves. But if I’m the 100 million man, I sometimes have to create a goal-scoring opportunity on my own or out of nowhere.

‘He’s so far away from that that it’s not possible. If I were Bayern’s manager, I wouldn’t be comfortable seeing Kane running around at the European Championships.’

Hamann, who made 59 appearances for Germany and played in the 2002 World Cup final, added: ‘Bellingham was hyped after his first six months in Madrid.

‘But he has only performed averagely for Real since Christmas. In the Champions League, he was barely seen in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. That’s why I’m not surprised by his performances at the European Championships.

‘Bellingham is undoubtedly a good player, but he needs to confirm his performances from last year. Many are talking about the Ballon d’Or, but I don’t see him as a world footballer at the moment.’

In the other side of the draw, Germany progressed to the quarter-finals after beating Denmark. The hosts will face in-form Spain next if Luis de la Fuente’s side beat unlikely qualifiers Georgia.

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