Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Former Tottenham striker and world cup Winner Jurgen Klinsmann has offered a scathing assessment of England’s recent tournament woes, revealing the national team has an inherent fear of winning major trophies.
His comments come as Sir Gareth Southgate’s side came very close to European Championship glory twice, losing to Italy and Spain in the 2021 and 2024 finals respectively.
Klinsmann, who won the World Cup with West Germany in 1990 and famously inflicted pain England Throughout his sporting career, he believes that at critical moments, an instinct to retreat takes over.
“There’s something in the decisive moment, like a Euro final, that scares them out of themselves, because once they get really close to winning their final, there’s something in their mind that says, ‘Oh, no, we can’t do this’,” he explained. men in blazers podcast.
He elaborated on this psychological barrier, saying: “It doesn’t give them the real confidence to say, ‘Let’s do it now’. They go up, then they go into a lower gear and they just start defending instead of finishing the play and scoring another goal.”
Klinsmann stressed the need for risk for ultimate success, saying: “If you want to win the World Cup you have to take risks. You can’t win the World Cup just by defending. Maybe that’s where England are lacking. The last little thing is that if you are 1–0 up, you have to score the second goal and close it out.”
Looking ahead, England will attempt to win the World Cup in North America next summer under Klinsmann’s compatriot Thomas Tuchel.
Tuchel has already spoken of his ambition to “put another star on the shirt”, reflecting England’s strong hopes of challenging for the trophy they last won in 1966.
Klinsmann acknowledges a significant change in mentality within the England camp.
“This really is progress in England,” he said. “Now they’re really saying, ‘We’re going to get there, we want to win the World Cup.’
“Even when I played they didn’t believe in winning the World Cup. And now they have reached heights because they have an extraordinary team.”