Former Leeds United player Mike Grella has launched a scathing attack on England’s World Cup match against Norway. Despite reaching the semi-finals, the Three Lions faced heavy criticism, with Grella bizarrely claiming that praising the display was “like giving birth to the world’s ugliest daughter and saying, ‘Oh, so beautiful baby'”.
Grella, who also played for Brentford and Scunthorpe United, is working as a commentator for CBS Sports during the tournament. He appeared on a panel discussion after England’s 2-1 quarter-final win on Saturday and did not hold back despite never winning a senior cap for the USMNT.
In footage shared on CBS’s X account, he said: “The good news is you’ve got two games left… and you can actually win the World Cup. The bad news is you’re not very good at football. You’re not very good on the ball, you’re not good at transitioning. You’re leaving unbelievable space between the lines. A really poor performance by England standards.”
“It’s impressive that no matter how poor you are, you can still come out victorious. It’s like giving birth to the ugliest daughter in the world and saying, ‘You’re such a beautiful baby.’ It was an embarrassment to get through that game. You made Norway look like a world power. “You have incredible superstars in (Jude) Bellingham and (Harry) Kane, but through that aspect of the game, it just wasn’t good enough.
Former Premier League striker Troy Deeney, who was also on the panel, later shared his views. Although not as scathing as some of his fellow pundits, the 38-year-old, who has never won an international cap, pulled no punches in his verdict against England. He said: “They keep saying the show is coming, but it might not be.
“In the wide areas we’re average at best, but when it’s 0-0 it’s like playing in shackles. They said they play front-foot football. There are a lot of questions about how we look compared to the results. The results were great and we kept winning, but Norway had Haaland, who was sent off just chasing goal and still had 10 shots.
“So we didn’t dominate or control the game and the changes, in my opinion, we did well. We took Declan Rice out and put Reece James as a holding midfielder, we put Elliott Anderson in even more. We put him on top and then we got Konsa and we put James at right-back. We just keep changing things and we just keep getting better. By the way, give a statue to Thomas Tuchel, who is great and doesn’t mind winning the World Cup.”
“But again, I’m not convinced by what we’re seeing other than that we can get a result. That’s great, but there’s another level.” Despite failing to win with real flair, England progressed into the last four and will face Argentina for a place in next Sunday’s final.
