Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has said that the national team failed to get past Italy in the quarter-finals of the Euro 2012 due to the fact that they were extremely tired. England manager Roy Hodgson has been using most of the players in all of the matches up until now due to the squad stands being depleted by injuries to crucial players like Lampard and Gareth Barry.
As a result, Glen Johnson has conceded that the team was extremely tired in the latter stages against Italy. England were eliminated from the Euro 2012 after being defeated by Italy on penalties following the 0-0 draw.
England failed to create major chances in the match, while they also failed to take the ball away from Italy. As a result, Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo enjoyed a lot of the ball, which allowed him to create a lot of openings for Italy. Glen Johnson has attributed tiredness to the fact that they were not able to get possession of the ball in the middle of the park. Every time Pirlo got the ball, he found himself in lots of space that allowed him to be at his brilliant best. Pirlo has already been responsible for much of Italy’s success at the Euro 2012.
“There were times when we gave the ball away cheaply. If we’ve got the ball, the opposition are working that bit harder. We definitely need to keep the ball better and then, when we do go forward, we will be a bit fresher to cause them more problems. The way we set out and the way we work for each other, we are always going to be hard to beat. We worked well as a team, we defended well and we caused them a few problems,” Johnson told the Mirror.