England Euro 2024 squad guide: More justifiable tournament favourites than ever before “The manager:  This will be Gareth Southgate’s fourth major tournament with England. No manager has taken the team to as many since Sir Alf Ramsey. Whatever happens in Germany, Southgate is the most consequential England manager of the modern era and this will be the tournament that defines his legacy and his future.  His contract expires at the end of this year and if England disappoint in Germany, that will be the end of his eight-year tenure. He may leave with a sense of not quite fulfilling the resources available to him, but if England win — or get close — this summer, then a contract extension is on the cards and one last attempt at the World Cup in the U.S. in two years’ time. …”
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Denmark Euro 2024 squad guide: A lack of evolution fuels doubts hanging over Hjulmand’s side “The manager: Kasper Hjulmand has been in the job almost four years and is now leading Denmark to what will be, slightly surprisingly, their first back-to-back European Championship appearances since they competed in the 2000 and 2004 editions. However, his popularity is on the wane and the mood surrounding him is not what it was back in 2021. Denmark’s progress through to the semi-finals of those Euros certainly occurred under exceptional circumstances following Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest during their opening group match on home turf in Copenhagen, but it also created a swell of goodwill around the team which would actually flow into Danish football as a whole. …”
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Serbia Euro 2024 squad guide: Tactical issues, a defensive shortage and an unpopular manager “The manager: Dragan Stojkovic is not popular. This is the second successive tournament that he has taken Serbia to. Nevertheless, his team have been in a lull since Qatar, where they failed to win any of their games (against Brazil, Cameroon and Switzerland). They qualified for Germany in second place, but they still lost home and away to Hungary, displaying tactical issues that continue to compromise their talent. …”
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Slovenia Euro 2024 squad guide: Oblak and Sesko give these underdogs real bite “The manager: If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. Whether that is Slovenia coach Matjaz Kek’s motto, it certainly applies as, in his second spell in charge of his homeland’s national team, he has got them to the Euros at the third attempt. His first crack at the job — which began in 2007 and included their qualification for the 2010 World Cup — ended in 2011 following the failure to reach the following summer’s Euros. He returned in late 2018 and while he was unable to guide the team to Euro 2020, they won Nations League promotion to its second tier in 2021 and are now off to only their second European Championship, after their debut in the 2000 tournament. …”
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