England vs Denmark LIVE: Reaction as dire Three Lions booed off and Southgate speaks out – The Mirror
England’s Euro 2024 draw with Denmark has led to doubts over their credentials for the tournament and left Gareth Southgate with big decisions to make before Slovenia after a poor outing
Well that didn't go as planned.
England come away with a draw from their second match at Euro 2024, after struggling to a dire 1-1 with Denmark. The Three Lions remain top of Group C but missed their opportunity to secure top spot after Slovenia and Serbia also played out a draw.
Gareth Southgate's side were not good against Serbia in their 1-0 victory but perhaps even stuck a step back against the Danes. England's hopefuls did not keep possession and may have been second best in Frankfurt.
Captain Harry Kane had put England ahead in the first half but again endured a tough 90 minutes. Morten Hjulmand’s long-range effort cancelled it out and when the full-time whistle arrived there were boos.
England defender Kyle Walker said: "We've got a point, we're top of the group and we'll move on."
That is all they can do for the moment but they will hope to improve as the tournament goes on. Changes may be on the way.
Rob Page has lost his job as Wales boss.
Two abject performances in June friendlies saw Page find little support for him to continue. The Welshman led Wales to the first World Cup in 64 years when the side competed in Qatar.
FAW President, Steve Williams commented: “I am incredibly grateful for all that Rob has done in his role as Cymru Men’s National Team Manager and I want to put on record my gratitude for taking Cymru to EURO 2020 and the FIFA World Cup.”
The midfielder was never likely to be in England's squad this summer after a difficult season or two. Many of course, will have been perplexed by Southgate acknowledging his absence as being an issue.
Perhaps what makes it more surprising is when you realise Phillips travelled to the World Cup in Qatar 18 months ago but made just two substitute appearances.
Not to say his profile would not be useful, but it isn't a new situation for England either.
More from John Cross, and certainly a talking point last night.
"The pitch can’t be used as an excuse because it was the same for both sides… but it cut up and resembled a cow field in places. Shutting the roof turned it into a green house. It was so humid and hot. They could’ve grown a field of strawberries by full time…"
"We are starting games well but in general when teams are dropping a few players deeper we are not quite sure how to get the pressure on and who is the one supposed to be going.”
Words from Kane once again but a bit unnerving that a plan comes unstuck as quickly as that and is not solved at a rapid pace. Fingers crossed England are better prepared for the tournament's top teams.
Former England defender Jamie Carragher was reminded of the England teams he played in last night. In this instance, that isn't a positive.
The ex-Liverpool star discussed that and the changes required next time out in addition to England's biggest problem.
Roy Keane gave his view on the Liverpool defender playing in the centre of the park in England's Euros matches so far. The former Manchester United believes that Declan Rice has been required to babysit his teammate in the two games so far.
“When you’ve been taken off in the two games that’s not a good sign,” Keane told ITV.
“I thought it was always a huge gamble to play a player who doesn’t play that position week-in week-out for his club. I know people say he drifts in there for Liverpool, but drifting into a position and staying there and starting are two completely different things.
“I’ve played midfield, it’s a tough position, physically, getting your distances and he’s come up short in the two games.
"It’s not all down to him, you’d have to put this on Gareth. It’s a huge gamble to throw a full-back into the middle of the park.
"And this was against two teams that you would have thought England would be comfortable and have lots of possession. It was a big ask for him and he’s not up to it.
"We talk about football in what you do in possession, it’s really important what you do out of possession and that’s why he’s been thrown in the deep end.
"Okay he’s going to be comfortable on the ball and if you give him time he can see a pass, there’s no doubting that. But it’s the other bits of his game, the distances.
"Rice feels like he’s babysitting him in there and you can’t do that at this level, you will be found out. And he has."
No panic from the Three Lions' captain despite the disappointing outing. The Bayern Munich forward has drawn comparision to England's draw with Scotland three years ago.
"We are top of the group, we are all-but qualified, which is the number one objective. We know we can improve. I know there will probably be a bit of disappointment back home. We experienced this in the last EUROs as well when we drew with Scotland. It's time to stay calm, a time to reflect and regroup. Step by step, we will get there."
The former Manchester United defender wasn't impressed.
"Lacklustre and poor, outmanoeuvred tactically by Denmark who were the better team. Denmark were well drilled, pressed us very well and forced England to look very average. Our best players operate at the top of the pitch and we set up to defend. We've got too good a set of players to sit back and wait and hope to get through."
Though, at times at felt England's defensive set-up was actually the issue. Not the backline itself but there was little in the way of the Three Lions proactively winning the ball back with any frequency.
While England's group played their second match yesterday to leave Southgate's side top on four points, with Slovenia and Denmark on two, with Serbia rounding things off on one, action continues elsewhere today.
Slovakia take on Ukraine, Poland face Austria and Netherlands take on France.
Will Mbappe play?
The name-drop of England not having a successor to Kalvin Phillips understandably has not got down well. That will in now way have won him any extra fans even with the scrutiny over his choice to utilise Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield.
It will be interesting whether Adam Wharton, Kobbie Mainoo or Conor Gallagher get a shout to start the next game as more traditional midfielders or whether Bellingham drops back and allows Foden into the 10.
It's the morning after the night before and the result won't feel any more reassuring. A tough one to take for the Three Lions and it will be Tuesday before they can put things right against Slovenia.
That's all for tonight, but we'll be back tomorrow for three more games plus plenty of reaction to England's draw against Denmark.
Gareth Southgate admitted that the gamble to deploy Trent Alexander-Arnold as a central midfielder hasn’t paid off.
Alexander-Arnold was hooked after just 53 minutes after struggling to cope in his new position for the second successive Euro group game as England limped to a disappointing 1-1 draw with Denmark. It now remains to be seen whether Southgate sticks with the Liverpool defender after Chelsea ’s Conor Gallagher added some energy to the Three Lions team after replacing Alexander-Arnold.
Southgate said: “We have been trying to find a solution in midfield for seven or eight years. If we hadn't had Declan Rice, I don't know where we'd have been. Unfortunately, Kalvin (Phillips) wasn’t a possible for us for this tournament and Hendo ( Jordan Henderson ) the same, so we're trying to find something different.
“Some of that has worked, some of that hasn't worked so well – but over the years that's been a consistent problem we've tried to find the best way of solving and we've got to do that in the coming weeks as well.”
Prince William was among the frustrated faces in England's dressing room in the wake of their disappointing showing against Denmark.
The Duke of Cambridge was in Frankfurt to cheer on Gareth Southgate's side in their second Euro 2024 group clash – but ended the night trying to raise spirits following an abject performance from the Three Lions. There was a major security briefing before William, who is also president of the Football Association, was allowed down to the dressing rooms, while England's stars braced themselves for more scrutiny.
England are still top of Group C with four points from two matches, but the manner of their display has raised serious questions about their credentials as tournament favourites. William, 41, was seen sharing a joke with Danish King Frederik in the stands before kick-off.
So England now need to avoid defeat against Slovenia to be assured of a place in the Last 16.
A win in their final game will mean they go through as group winners. But if they draw and Denmark win, the Three Lions would be in second place.
That would see them face Germany in their first knockout game. If they lose to Slovenia and Denmark win, England would finish in third place, though four points should be enough to send them through.
Jordan Henderson is no longer in the England squad but he's still backing Gareth Southgate's side to the hilt.
The former Liverpool captain used Kyle Walker's post-match interview – in which the England right-back attempted to keep morale high and played down the disappointment of the Denmark result – to say on Instagram: "Well said, @kylewalker2. Too much negativity! Get behind and trust this team."
Kyle Walker has come under fire for his comments immediately after that draw, but England cricket captain Ben Stokes believes the right-back said exactly the right things.
Stokes tweeted: "Class interview that from Kyle Walker…made sure everyone heard they are top of the table but knows there is loads more to improve on, get behind the team and leave the hindsight and negativity to the pundits aye…..come on ENGLAND."
A night when England were far from their best
@johncrossmirror gives his take on a disappointing display in a 1-1 draw with Denmark#deneng | #euro2024 pic.twitter.com/Z5NS3SMLxG
Jamie Carragher believes a lack of communication is costing England, following their draw with Denmark.
"Trent & Rice are far too deep when Denmark have the ball, they are too concerned with what’s behind them," he tweeted. "They need to stop what’s in front of them. Centre backs need to be screaming at them to get out to enable them to push out."
Former England star Matt Upson is concerned about England's balance in midfield.
"The play before Harry Kane's goal was steady, England were knocking the ball around and Denmark were feeling their way into it," Upson said.
"Kane's goal was a reaction point from Denmark. They lost their fear and they started to play the game – England couldn't get to grips with it.
"England didn't get hold of the ball, they couldn't apply pressure and looked disjointed in midfield – that is catalyst to the problem. We get away with it and it is a point Are England on a good run of form? No. They are not playing very well."
Micah Richards believes it's time for Harry Kane to change the way he plays if he is to rediscover his form.
"I think Harry Kane needs to adapt. He's used to playing in that number 10 role but when we look back to that goal and his movement he is always going to know where to be inside the box," Richards said.
"He needs to trust the players around him – Foden, Bellingham and Saka – to be able to get the ball in the half spaces and play the ball into him."
There were glum looks on the faces of England fans at the final whistle.
Ross Williams, 38, an IT worker from Barnsley, south Yorks, said: “It was a tough watch.
“We were not expansive enough. We did not seem to want to go forward enough.
“I think the best we can hope for on that showing is the quarter finals.”
Construction worker Ricky Beck, 35, also from Barnsley, said: “It was terrible. Absolutely terrible.
“We always start slow (in tournaments) but that was really slow, it was painfully slow.
“We went to watch Ukraine v Romania in Munich and that was far better than what we saw here.”
Roy Keane has delivered a worrying verdict on that England performance, warning something is "amiss" in the team.
"There's something amiss. We're talking about the balance, Trippier at left-back, Trent in midfield. You look at your star player today Bellingham, he's going down every time he touched it, he's waving his arms," he told ITV.
"This is a big test for Gareth. It's a big test, a big challenge. He looks like he's overthinking things. He made the substitutions, bit of bravery which I admire. But there's something amiss with this group."
Kieran Trippier has urged England supporters and pundits to remain calm, despite Thursday's poor result.
"Very proud to get 50 caps for my country, but my main focus is the result – it wasn't there for us tonight," he told BBC Radio 5 Live:.
"Four points two games and we know there is so much to improve on. We stay will calm, stay positive and stay together – that is the most important thing.
"We understand the supporters' frustration from the outside, but as a staff and a team we need to stay together. It is tournament football, it is difficult no matter who you play against.
"We know as players we can take it up so many levels. There is no need to panic, the performances we know we can do better. One game left in the group and we look forward to that one."
Harry Kane has been brutally honest about that dire performance.
"I think we said before the tournament there's no easy games and I think that's showing," he told BBC Sport.
"We've got levels we can reach and we can be better both with and without the ball. I think the sign of a good team is when you're not playing at your best and still find a way to get results like we have in the last two games.
"We're top of the group. We know we can improve. I know there will probably loads of noise and a bit of disappointment back home but we experienced this in the last Euros as well when we drew to Scotland.
"Step by step, we'll get there. I think it's something we've got to get better at. I think we're starting games well but when the teams are dropping deeper we're not quite sure how to get the pressure on and who's going.
"In the second half we tried to change a little bit but it was difficult. Credit to Denmark, they caused us some threats. Overall we've got to look back and see where we can improve."
Gareth Southgate is not hiding after that, he's admitted England need to improve.
"Clearly not what we would have hoped. We're not using the ball well enough. There's another level we've got to find," he said.
"No [telling the players to sit deep]. We've played teams that are quite fluid and we're not getting pressure on them. Keeping the ball has also been a big part of the problem.
"We wanted energy we need to press better. He's [Alexander-Arnold] had some moments where he's delivered what we thought he would. We don't have a natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips.
"We needed energy, we've had two games in a short turnaround. We needed fresh legs. Harry's only had one 90 minutes in the last month so that's the decision we took.
"There's a huge amount of work. We understand people will be disappointed with the performances and rightly so. We've got to do better."
There's no getting away from it, that was a very disjointed, poor performance from the Three Lions.
Collectively it wasn't good enough. And not enough individuals can point to themselves and really say that they did themselves justice either.
Marc Guehi was outstanding. Kyle Walker solid, John Stones too. Jordan Pickford had no chance with the goal but did whatever else was asked of him. So defensively, they stood firm.
But going forwards and what they were doing with the ball? It's nowhere near where they need to be.
There's a lack of clarity, of ideas. Attacks are either rushed or too slow. Too often the simple and right option isn't being picked. Harry Kane got his goal but his back injury is stil there and hampering him. It has to be.
The Phil Foden question was asked after the draw with Serbia and we moved no further forwards with regards an answer to that here. What we did get an answer for however is that the experiment with Trent in midfield must end.
England were outnumbered, outmanouvered and largely dominated in there. Credit Southgate for trying it but it hasn't worked. He now needs to end it.
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