Rising UFC Star Michael ‘Venom’ Page, one of English MMA’s most well-known fighters, has dissected his country’s performances so far at the ongoing 2024 UEFA European Championship in Germany.
England topped its group with five points returned from a possible nine and, though unbeaten in its campaign, has left a lot to be desired considering the extraordinary attacking talent at its disposal. England’s next game is against Slovakia on Sunday as both teams compete for the right to advance to the quarterfinals. But ‘MVP’ does not appear confident in their chances.
MVP Blasts England as ‘Annoying’
The fighter says the team is ‘exceptional’ but lacks confidence in manager Gareth Southgate
Ahead of Page’s return Saturday to the Octagon at UFC 303, for a middleweight fight against Irish fighter Ian Garry, the Englishman talked to GIVEMESPORT about England’s chances at the Euros.
“We’ve got to support England no matter how annoying they are,” he told us with a smile. He then appeared to praise the likes of Jude Bellingham, 20, and Bukayo Saka, 22, among others. “I genuinely believe the team that we have, the group of youngsters, are exceptional.”
His issue, he said, is with Southgate — a head coach who, as GIVEMESPORT reported earlier this week, is responsible for no clear tactics, a lack of identity, passive in-game management, and just a general failure to address the glaring weaknesses on the field.
“The manager, Gareth, is not good enough to take them to where we need to win,” Page told us.
“We have the ability to do so, but then you’ve got a guy playing people out of position … Harry Kane who is not doing much, but guaranteed to get a football, time on a pitch. He spends more time defending than attacking. Bringing the younger guys come on and there’s way more balls that are getting crossed into the box because people are driving into defenders, which pushes that defense back.
“It feels like we try to score a goal, then the Mourinho effect and park the bus — it’s embarrassing. The talent that we have in that team, it’s embarrassing.”
Page Identified The Issue
Fighter says ‘It’s coming home’ phrase has become ‘our jinx’
Page is desperate for something “to change” and added that phrases like “It’s coming home” do not help things, either.
“Something needs to change, otherwise we’ll all be saying: ‘It’s coming home, and getting disappointed every single time.’
“I’m never going to say that statement, positively. I think that’s our jinx. Let’s get rid of that saying, because hopefully we get better results.”
England has a chance to get a better result Sunday in the Slovakia game. Page, meanwhile, fights Garry at UFC 303 — pay-per-view event on ESPN and TNT Sport broadcast from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.