Grella's 'ugly daughter' jibe leads chorus of criticism at England despite World Cup semi-final place

England reached the World Cup semi-finals with a 2-1 quarter-final victory over Norway on Saturday, but the performance drew sharp criticism from pundits, with former Leeds United and Brentford forward Mike Grella producing one of the more colourful verdicts of the tournament.

Speaking as part of a post-match panel, Grella did not spare the Three Lions. “The good news is you have two games left and you can actually win a World Cup,” he said. “The bad news is you’re not very good at football. You’re not good with the ball or in transition. You leave unbelievable spaces in between the lines.”

Grella, who also had spells at Scunthorpe United during his playing career, went further with an analogy that quickly circulated on social media. “It’s like having the world’s ugliest daughter and saying ‘oh, you’re so beautiful baby’,” he said. “Let’s call a spade a spade — that was embarrassing how you got through that game. You made Norway look like world-beaters.”

He did acknowledge England’s individual quality, adding: “You have unbelievable superstars in Bellingham and Kane, but through facets of the game, not good enough, at all.”

Former Premier League striker Troy Deeney, also on the panel, offered a similarly critical assessment. “They keep telling you the performances are going to come, but they might not,” said the 38-year-old. “In wide areas we are average at best. When it’s 0-0, we’re playing with the shackles on.”

Deeney pointed to Norway’s Erling Haaland — who he said had his worst game of the tournament and was substituted while his side chased the game — as evidence of England’s failure to dominate. “Norway still had 10 shots in the game,” he noted.

He also questioned Thomas Tuchel’s late tactical decisions, specifically the removal of Declan Rice and the subsequent use of Reece James as a holding midfielder. “We just keep on changing different things and are getting away with it,” Deeney said, before conceding: “I don’t care, by the way — if we win the World Cup, great, give Thomas Tuchel a statue.”

England now advance to the semi-finals, where they will need to produce a more convincing display if they are to silence the growing doubts about the quality of their football.