Jamie Carragher blamed England‘s 3-1 defeat to the Netherlands on “stupid decisions” and “stupid mistakes”.
John Stones‘ calamitous error, losing possession on the edge of his own box as he attempted to swivel away from Memphis Depay, led to Kyle Walker scoring an own goal and Ronald Koeman’s side securing their place in the Nations League final.
Later in extra-time, a similar mistake from Ross Barkley allowed the Dutch to score a confirmatory third.
Speaking after the game, Carragher castigated the centre-back’s sloppy play.
“I don’t think we’re taking huge risks at the back,” he said. ”England never took risks tonight. The goals didn’t come from risks and it never came from playing out from the back, it came from stupid decisions.
“John Stones is facing his goalkeeper and he is passing it – he doesn’t have to go long. It’s stupid. That’s got nothing to do with going long. He’s made a stupid mistake and a stupid decision to turn on it and try and be clever.”
Gary Neville and Jamie Redknapp both insisted the mistakes were a result of England being overrun in a midfield masterfully conducted by Dutch Barcelona-bound Frenkie de Jong.
“Those errors have been coming all night,” Neville said. ”The midfield just didn’t look competent against a really good midfield.
“England will need to improve. Gareth Southgate will have to think about whether he goes to a back-three.
“That back-four…I’m not sure it will be good enough against a top team.”
Redknapp added: “The major problem was the midfield. We can talk about playing out of the back but you need to have players in midfield who can take the ball in tight areas.
“We still struggle to retain the ball.”
