Piers Morgan explodes at ‘neutered’ England stars in three-minute Euro 2024 rant

Piers Morgan has launched a scathing attack on Jude Bellingham and other England stars ahead of their quarter-final clash with Switzerland. The outspoken TV personality unleashed a tirade against the national team's key player Bellingham during a fiery outburst, where the 59-year-old oddly labelled England players as "neutered, terrified snails".

In a conversation with Alan Brazil and Dean Saunders on talkSPORT, Morgan lambasted Gareth Southgate's squad, taking particular aim at Bellingham, Harry Kane, and Phil Foden for their lacklustre performances.

England have been shaky at Euro 2024 so far and despite scraping through to the quarter-finals thanks to a dramatic last-minute equaliser from Real Madrid's Bellingham, Morgan has pointedly criticised England's number ten for his underwhelming display, even calling him a "turkey". He also ridiculed the ex-Dortmund star's post-match interviews and presence on social media reports the Mirror.

"Jude Bellingham is one of the world's greatest players right now," Morgan said. "What's he been doing over the last few days? Instead of keeping a low profile like 'I understand, guys, I've not been playing up to my usual standards', he's on Instagram quoting Theodore Roosevelt speeches about the man in the arena as if he's been thrust into battle and unfairly singled out for criticism," he added.

Morgan was referencing Bellingham's social media post where he quoted a Theodore Roosevelt speech and his post-match interview in which the midfielder stated, "People talk a lot of rubbish" and "it's nice, when you deliver, you can give them a little bit back."

Following Bellingham's defensive remarks after the nail-biting match against Slovakia, Morgan suggested that the 21-year-old needed to elevate his performance and ensure it mirrored those he delivered for his club last season when Madrid clinched the Champions League.

"No Jude, you've been playing like a turkey for the last three games and you need to step up and need to be the Jude Bellingham which was ripping teams apart in La Liga for Real Madrid," Morgan said. However, the broadcaster didn't limit his sharp criticism to Bellingham alone.

In his fiery tirade, Morgan criticised Kane, Foden, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka. "It's been shocking," he said. "Let's remind ourselves, Harry Kane, best player in the Bundesliga, Jude Bellingham, best player in La Liga, Phil Foden, best player in the Premier League, why are we playing the way we're playing? These are the best players in Europe. They've won all the awards for their leagues but they're playing like a bunch of neutered, terrified snails." he added.

Morgan also has expressed his confusion over the England squad's failure to replicate their training ground performances during actual matches. The outspoken former Good Morning Britain presenter suggested that if the players channelled their "energy" into playing to their "potential" rather than responding to criticism on social media and in interviews, they could easily go on to win Euro 2024.

"I'm very struck by a little interview Phil Foden's given where he says it's not Southgate's problem," Morgan said. "But in training he's telling them to press further up, be higher up the pitch, move it at a faster tempo, so why aren't they doing it? I've watched the last three games, honestly if they spent as much energy this team as they do at criticising people who criticise them, if they spent that energy on the pitch, working out how to play to their potential in this tournament, we could win this at a canter."

Morgan also questioned why star players like Kane and Foden are unable to bring their club-level excellence to the tournament. He didn't hold back when discussing Arsenal's Saka and Rice either, suggesting there is something fundamentally "wrong" with the current England set-up

"Harry Kane, you are the best centre forward in the world so why aren't you playing like it? Phil Foden, you were terrorising everybody for Manchester City, what has happened to you?" Morgan said. "And I won't spare my guys, Saka and Declan Rice, two of my favourite players in the world, not playing anything like the quality or tempo they played for Arsenal last season," he added.

He continued: "So there is something inherently wrong with the players, now we can blame Southgate until the cows come home, but the bottom line is these are world class players and it doesn't really matter what mix we put on the pitch."

Morgan suggested he would shake up England's starting squad for the pivotal match against Switzerland, but stressed that the responsibility ultimately falls on the players themselves, regardless of who is selected: "I personally would definitely start with [Cole] Palmer, I think he's got to start against Switzerland. But whatever line-up we have, let's make these players be accountable."