Euro 2024: Pep Guardiola Blamed for Poor Performances at The Group Stages

• Wayne Rooney recently made an interesting claim about Pep Guardiola as he criticised nations at the European Championship
• The English legend believes many teams are too focused on their positional play and are intent on trying to create 'the perfect goal'
• One of the most distinct characteristics of Guardiola’s teams is possession-based football meant to pick the opposing defence apart

Wayne Rooney recently emerged with an interesting theory on why top teams are not performing at the Euro 2024.

The former Manchester United man believes top nations at the European Championship are ‘trying to score the perfect goal’, which is crippling their performances.

Rooney was particularly critical of the Belgium team after the Red Devils’ drab 0-0 draw against Ukraine in their final Group E match in Cologne last night (June 26).

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"What we're seeing here, not just with Belgium but with a lot of teams, with England and Holland at times; we're seeing this system which everyone seems to be playing," Rooney said, per Four Four Two.

The retired striker, who was recently appointed as the head coach of League Two side, Plymouth, singled out Jeremy Doku, who struggled to make an impact for his nation, compared to his typical performances for Manchester City.

"Even with players like Doku who plays out wide, no crosses go into the box," Rooney added.

Rooney's issue with teams at the Euros

Asked to expound on which teams he feels have a problem with their approach, Rooney said:

"I think the game's got a lot more positional, trying to score the perfect goal. I think it's Pep's fault! He's brought that in. He's mastered it but everyone else seems to struggle to create clear-cut chances."

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Guardiola has established himself as one of the greats in English football management after securing his fourth successive Premier League title in the 2023/2024 campaign.

Euro 2024 results are lacklustre

Meanwhile, the Euro 2024 group stages failed to live up to expectations, and fans were treated to some stale performances from nations tipped to be heavyweights.

As per the UEFA website, four out of the 26 games in the opening phase of the competition ended in a goalless draw, and a whopping 14 matches ended in a draw.

The highest-scoring game of the group stage was the opener involving Germany and Scotland, in which the hosts triumphed 5-1 to demonstrate their title credentials.

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Sports Brief also reported on Cristiano Ronaldo’s comments about Ralf Rangnick after Austria’s heroics at Euro 2024.

The Austrians defied the odds to claim a top spot in Group D, setting up a Round of 16 clash against Turkey on July 2.