Arsenal legend David Seaman believes that England are the favourites heading into Euro 2024, despite their uninspiring performance against North Macedonia on Monday night.
The Three Lions, who had already secured qualification for next summer’s tournament in Germany before the game, ensured they will be top seeds in the European Championship draw with a 1-1 draw at the National Arena Toše Proeski.
Gareth Southgate has come in for criticism after his side failed to inspire in successive qualifiers having beaten Malta 2-0 last week. But Seaman believes that England are in a very strong position under the much maligned manager.
“When you look at where England are – we are now going into tournaments as favourites or joint-favourites. That’s the progression that Gareth has got going with England,” the former goalkeeper told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast.
“There is always a lot of criticism when you don’t play well as England, but you have got to take into context the fact that we had already qualified.
“I think the main goal was to get into pot one. That was the main job done [with a point in North Macedonia]. It was almost done with two games to go.
“Okay, people will say that the performance wasn’t very good, but I was watching last night and the pitch looked very strange. The referee was also very strange, if I am honest. So it was an okay performance.”
England will discover their Euro 2024 group stage opponents when the draw takes place on Saturday, 2 December.
