England’s lacklustre performance against Denmark leaves fans, pundits baffled
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Gareth Southgate (centre) said the key to England’s failings against Denmark was their failure to press hard enough and a lack of quality on the ball.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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FRANKFURT – England’s second underwhelming performance at Euro 2024 had pundits and fans all wondering what is wrong with the team, as many fear the pre-tournament favourites could be heading home sooner rather than later.
Gareth Southgate’s side have one foot in the knockout stages as they top Group C with four points, but it is difficult to find someone who genuinely believes they deserve to be there.
The Three Lions were fortunate to escape with a 1-0 win over Serbia
Despite leading through Harry Kane’s early goal, England quickly lost their momentum and Morten Hjulmand’s long-range rocket gave the Danes a deserved point.
Former England striker Alan Shearer called it a “very poor” performance.
He said: “There was no energy, no pace to the game. We got caught too many times on the ball, too many sloppy passes. The players look shattered, there’s no excuse for that.
“England were booed off after, the crowd were gone within a minute of the game ending, so that tells you the mood.”
In Frankfurt, the delighted Danes were still cheering and dancing in the stands long after the final whistle, a big contrast to the atmosphere among their English counterparts.
“I don’t know if they are being told to play like this. They are lethargic – they need more energy and need to be more aggressive. We are constantly inviting pressure,” former England defender Micah Richards said of Southgate’s playing style, which is often criticised for being overly cautious and boring.
In the first half, only Kane, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka regularly ventured into the opposition half, while many of the Danes virtually set up camp in England’s.
Other pundits also questioned why players who press freely for clubs such as Liverpool and Manchester City were sitting so deep.
“The current balance of the team is not allowing the players to reach the levels that they have done for clubs,” former England defender Rio Ferdinand said.
“Foden is out of position and not playing his best, maybe (Jude) Bellingham would be better playing at No. 8. It is baffling.”
Gary Neville, another former England defender, agreed and said: “There’s an imbalance in the team, square pegs in round holes.
“Because of that, you start to drop deep as a protective measure because you feel like you are not comfortable. You end up giving the ball away and we look like a mess.”
England fans were also uniformly critical of Southgate, despite him being the Three Lions’ second-most successful manager, after 1966 World Cup winner Alf Ramsey.
“Southgate is struggling because all he knows is underdog football, which is why England play like they are in a League Two relegation battle despite having the best squad in the tournament,” one posted on X.
“Painful, slow, expressionless with no fluid football” and “We play to not lose rather than to win” were other comments.
England will next take on Slovenia and one big talking point is whether Southgate persists with playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield – when in fact, tournament football should not be the time for experimentation.
The Liverpool defender was replaced after 53 minutes by Conor Gallagher following another below-par performance.
As was the case against Serbia, the 25-year-old, who has spent most of his career at right-back, was unable to dominate the midfield and drifted out of the game.
Southgate did his best to face the criticism head-on in his post-match press conference. He said: “We know it’s an experiment.
“We don’t have a natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips. We’re trying different things and we’re not flowing as we’d like.
“We have been trying to find a solution in midfield for seven or eight years.”
Fans replied by suggesting that Kobbie Mainoo, whom he left on the bench, could do a better job in midfield by holding up play and distributing the ball, rather than playing Alexander-Arnold out of position.
As for the issue of not pressing, Southgate insisted he does not tell England to sit back.
“We’ve played teams that are quite fluid in back threes and it’s not easy to get pressure on them,” he said.
Despite the backlash, his team will still reach the last 16 as group winners if they beat Slovenia on June 25.
“We have to stay calm and find good solutions to improve,” Southgate added. AFP, REUTERS
