Once again, poor play and a barely snatched point set off alarms on the Island. Instead of “It’s Coming Home”, many are now afraid that England’s footballers will return home before time, perhaps already after the first knockout phase of the European Championship.The Three Lions did not make a name for themselves in the match against Denmark, in which the 1-1 result was like a win, because it was once again shown that something is not right within the team. Despite that, coach Gareth Southgate and two veterans, captain Harry Kane and Kyle Walker, tried after the game to calm the passions and assure the compatriots that they had no reason to worry.”It’s definitely not what we hoped for. We’re not using the ball in the right way and we have to accept that we’re going to suffer more like we did tonight,” Southgate said.54 – No player created more chances (3) or played more line-breaking passes in the final third (5) for England against Denmark than Trent Alexander-Arnold, despite him being subbed off in the 54th minute. Question. pic.twitter.com/o1vKS3AUVj— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 20, 2024 He denies reports that he ordered the players to stand closer to their goal.”I don’t tell the players that. We’ve played against a few teams with three at the back and it’s hard to put pressure on them in those circumstances. That’s been a problem for us, but it’s also a problem for us that we don’t manage to keep the ball.”Many have criticized Southgate’s decision to force Trent Alexander-Arnold into midfield, which has resulted in Conor Gallagher, who is much more useful in that position alongside Declan Rice, suffering.”I wanted to bring Conor in. We needed fresh energy and pressing, and Conor does that very well. Trent did what we expected of him, it’s all part of the experiment. We know we don’t have a replacement for Calvin Phillips, so we’re trying different things.”Performance like this won’t bring it homeHarry Kane’s performance has also been called into question…”We lacked energy, we were looking for a fresh pair of legs. Harry has only played the full 90 minutes once in the last month, so we decided not to overdo it.”He also told the people at home…”We know we still have a lot to do. We will go through all the details tonight. We understand that people are disappointed and they have every right to feel that way. We have to do better.”##NAJAVA_MECA_8173441##Captain Kane reminds that there are no easy games in major competitions.”It can be seen now. There are heights of form that we can reach, with and without the ball, but this is the sign of a good team, which can take points even when they are not playing well. We are at the top of the table and practically qualified for the next phase. I know there will be uproar at home, and probably a dose of dissatisfaction, but we already experienced that when we played a draw with Scotland at the last EURO.”Kobbie Mainoo, England’s most promising young midfielder and Cole Palmer, last season’s Premier League’s Young Player of The Season left on the bench when Spain’s 16-year-old Lamine Yamal is cooking for them at the Euros.Southgate has blood on his hands. pic.twitter.com/psfAkx5AmX— UF (@UtdFaithfuls) June 20, 2024 Kyle Walker also tries to calm the situation down, aware that the public on the Island will by no means be satisfied with the result and the game shown.”This is tournament football. Denmark is a quality team, but we are still at the top of the table. We didn’t lose. We conceded a goal outside the penalty area, let’s take the positive out of everything,” Walker clears it up and adds:”The coach asks us to play attacking football, and sometimes in tournaments like this you have to control the game. Like in the Champions League, you don’t get three points by just showing up on the pitch. We know we can be better, but we’re still first in the group.The players know that we need to raise the level, the fans ask us to stomp on everyone in front of us and score three or four goals, but that’s not football anymore”.England now have almost five days to prepare for the game with Slovenia.
