Gareth Southgate has defended his decisions on the timing of his substitutions during England games at Euro 2024 ahead of the semi-final clash with the Netherlands.
Southgate did not make a substitution against Switzerland until the 78th minute and has come under criticism for making changes late in games during the tournament.
But explaining his thinking, Southgate said: “There are different reasons for making changes.
“We were happy with how the team was playing in a couple of those games. There was a game where we made a substitution at half-time so we don’t have a preconditioned way of operating.
“You’re always looking at the freshness and balance of the team and how the players are performing individually. Whether changes are actually going improve us or not. Those are the assessments you are always making.”
Southgate also said the lack of preparation time for knockout games at Euro 2024 has been a challenge.
He added: “It’s strange as in the biggest games you get less time recover. You’d assume for the biggest matches you have the best preparation but we haven’t really been able to get on the training pitch.
“We’ve been walking through things and covering in meetings. There is a different physical aspect now. But all of the players are going into this game in a good condition, have recovered well.
“Over the next 24 hours we’ll keep assessing people and the game will take us in a certain direction that will make those decisions for us.”
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