England may have just gotten over the line in their last-16 tie with Slovakia, but they will need to massively improve if they are to harbour hopes of going all the way at Euro 2024.
Gareth Southgate's side have been incredibly poor throughout this tournament, struggling against teams with supposedly far inferior individual talent. Of course, individual talent can only get you so far if the team is not set up in the correct manner.
They will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals on Saturday evening, with the Swiss coming into that game on the back of an impressive display against Italy. As things stand, England would have to be considered slight underdogs in that game.
However, some feel they could still end up making a deep run at Euro 2024.
READ HERE: Roy Keane Had Hilarious Reaction To Jude Bellingham's Slovakia Equaliser
Jason McAteer On England's Euro 2024 Chances After Slovakia Win
Despite England's poor performances at Euro 2024, they are still in a good position to go all the way to the final. The way in which the draw fell means that they would not have to face the likes of Germany, Spain, France, or Portugal before the final.
As well as that, some feel that the momentum gained from last night's win dramatic win over Slovakia could be an important factor.
Speaking on beIN SPORTS, former Ireland midfielder Jason McAteer explained why England cannot be written off in this tournament despite their poor form up to this point.
Are Spain the favourites to win EURO 2024?@GullitR & @MCATEER4 discuss!#EURO2024 | #beINEURO | #HomeofEuro | pic.twitter.com/iAw7mnmbXu
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) June 30, 2024
If you're looking for an exciting and expansive team that move it really quickly, that just want to score goals and be creative, lots of guile and passion, they work hard for each other, that means you can't look past Spain.
But that doesn't mean that you go on and win it.
England with what they've done tonight, there will be a renewed optimism and confidence will be growing. There's nothing like scoring a last minute to go on and win a match, you get back in that dressing room.
They've created a bit of a siege mentality because of what has gone on behind the scenes and the criticism that they've got.
They had to produce tonight. They didn't for 45 minutes, then it was all hands on deck and a last throw of the dice kind of thing. They got their rewards, just, by the skin of their teeth, by 30 seconds.
They're through, and they're on the right side of the draw. Sadly two of the best teams (Germany and Spain) are going to meet each other in the quarters.
England may well have created that siege mentality within the squad, but that has not translated to good performances so far at Euro 2024.
They will certainly need to improve quite a bit if they want to overcome Switzerland in this weekend's game, not to mention the challenges that would come after that point.
England may well get things together over the coming days, although there have been few signs of such a development since the start of the tournament.
SEE ALSO: Gareth Southgate Says England Star Was 'Disgusted' To Be Subbed On Against Slovakia
