Well, the good news for England is that they have topped their Euro 2024 qualifying group. The flip side of that is that last night’s 0-0 draw with Slovenia was achieved with another fairly uninspiring performance.
Some won’t care and that’s completely fair, but the perception (or indeed the reality) that Gareth Southgate isn’t getting the best from some very talented players is the story surrounding England in this tournament. Conor Gallagher came into the side to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold, but for all the good they did, they would have been better off playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in Diffrent-Strokes. The Chelsea player was very poor and was replaced at half-time by Kobbie Mainoo, who actually made some changes.
In my view, England’s biggest problem is that the balance of the game is completely wrong. I think the biggest problem is Harry Kane. He drops deep to block Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden (who I think can play effectively down the left flank) and leaves his team up front without any kind of focus. When he’s there, he’s too slow, too greedy, and too often in poor touch. There was a moment in the second half when Bukayo Saka passed to him on the edge of the area and the ball bounced away. Him. This is basic information.
He was lucky enough to start playing this game. I think he’s more on reputation than merit right now, and the fact that he played a full 90+ last night was outrageous in any way. What are people like Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney thinking when they see him bundled up like he can’t even get 20 minutes off the bench when he picks a team?
‘Maybe Ben White was right’ is probably one of the things they were thinking. But seeing Kane drop another 2/10 performance and not get his chances will raise questions. In particular, striker is the position that is easiest to change. Saka came on for Cole Palmer, who performed well against a tired full-back who was already booked. But the idea that he is something special is fantastic, no matter which part of the media you believe. I watched Saka closely, and although he, like many of his team-mates, was not at his best, he was England’s most active player until he was dragged off by Foden in the first half for a careless offside. It remained until Gareth Southgate allowed Anthony Gordon in the final minute to deny Saka a goal.
Despite qualifying, it is understandable that there is frustration around the England team at the moment. Most fans can understand poor performance, most fans can understand poor performance, but at least you can look around at certain players who haven’t reached their peak level and are allowed to sit out for an entire game without trying an alternative. Very few people have it.
It was a good night for Slovenia. The other match in this group saw Denmark and Serbia advance to the knockout round with a draw after a 0-0 draw. England’s next opponents are to be determined, but one possibility is the Netherlands, who finished third in Group D after losing 3-2 to Austria. Ralf Rangnick’s side were perhaps the surprise package of the tournament, and few would have backed them to win their group before play began.
They have been impressive in all their matches so far. Their organisation and work rate are very good and yesterday was no exception. Obviously this is a Dutch team that is far from the best we have seen in the past, but we can’t leave out Austria who deserved to win yesterday. They were so good that I decided to hold back on Jonathan Pearce and Danny Murphy on the commentary. The former is becoming more and more religious with each game, and the latter has at least taken too many blows to the head but still provides some inspiration for those who want to make a career on live TV.
In the other match in the same group, Jakub Kiwior conceded a penalty and Kylian Mbappe scored to make it 1-0. On the other hand, when Poland were awarded a penalty, Robert Lewandowski looked like a right-side jerk with a stuttering run-up when Mike Maignan blocked it, but when given a second chance he did the same and just looked right-side. A twat who doesn’t care because he scores. France took second place, and Poland – as we already know – went home.
Today Zinchenko and Trossard are in action as Belgium take on Ukraine, while Slovakia take on Romania. In the evening, Georgia faces Portugal and Turkey takes on the Czech Republic in a group with a lot at stake.
That’s it, that’s it. Our daily Euro 2024 pods will be live on Patreon for a while, with more to come tomorrow.
