“Puzzling” and “worrying”: The best thing about England’s minimalist start to the European Championship so far has been the results. Kane and Co. really don’t look like title contenders.
Gareth Southgate and Harry Kane looked as if England had failed again in their next attempt at the title after 58 years of dreariness.
And when the national coach was asked to outline his task for the coming days and weeks after the completely disappointing draw against the superior Danes, he seemed almost desperate. “The challenge is to do something we have never done before. The challenge couldn’t be greater. I have to make intelligent decisions,” said Southgate. England have never been European football champions before.
Kane “must get better”
The British public has so far seen little “intelligent decisions” at the European Championships in Germany – quite the opposite. Instead, the question is how the most valuable team in this tournament, with so much talent, can switch to management mode to the extent that four points and two goals are by far the best news. 1-0 against Serbia, 1-1 against Denmark – both times the minimalist Three Lions were well served with the result in the end.
“It’s puzzling and worrying,” said former national defender Rio Ferdinand on the BBC. Despite his goal against the Danes, captain Kane is not yet a factor in this tournament. His ball touches (in the first half against Serbia: two) are eagerly counted on the island and the interpretation of his role as a penalty area player who hardly plays a part is questioned. “He has to get better,” demanded Gary Lineker after the second poor performance, in which Kane not only scored but also initiated the goal with a bad pass.
Veteran Kane knows the mechanisms at home, where on Friday there were reports of “tame lions” and “an identity crisis”. “I know that there will probably be a lot of noise and a little disappointment at home, but we experienced that at the last European Championships too,” said the 30-year-old star striker of FC Bayern, who was even substituted in the closing stages this time.
Southgate takes responsibility
At the 2021 European Championship, England ended up in the final and were just a few penalties away from the title. That is not foreseeable this time, judging by the staid games against the furious host Germany or the dominant Spain. “Of course we are disappointed with the two performances we showed. We have to find solutions to these problems. Our level has to be higher. That is my responsibility,” admitted Southgate. He called the performance “anxious”.
The main accusations against the 53-year-old: being too defensive and wasting potential, especially offensively. “We know that people are disappointed with our performances so far,” said Southgate. The fact that Chelsea’s young star Cole Palmer has not played a single minute after scoring 22 goals in the Premier League is causing irritation. The fact that England’s offense has problems was already evident in the pre-season with an embarrassing 0-1 defeat to Iceland.
Confusing statement about “experiment”
Former striker Alan Shearer said: “Gareth Southgate will have to ask himself serious questions. You can get a lot more out of these players than he is doing at the moment.” In the arena in Frankfurt, Southgate now offered additional scope for attack by publicly calling out defender Trent Alexander-Arnold. “We know that this is an experiment. We know that we have no natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips. We are trying out different things and at the moment we are not making as much progress as we would like,” said the coach.
Southgate is expecting difficult days until the group final on Tuesday (9 p.m.) in Cologne against Slovenia. With four points, there is no doubt that they will make it to the round of 16, but winning the group is only guaranteed with a win over the underdog. As first in Group C, the Three Lions would also avoid a possible round of 16 match against Germany.
Source: Stern
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