England have finished top of Group C after their snooze-fest 0-0 draw to Slovenia.
5 points were enough for Gareth Southgate’s side to confirm their place in the knockout stages where they will play Slovakia. Fans however struggled to gain much confidence in the team after three consecutive underwhelming displays.
The Three Lions did put the ball into the back of the net in the first half however it was correctly disallowed for offside. In arguably England’s best move of the match, Declan Rice played a superb ball into the path of an offside Phil Foden who squared it across the six yard box for Bukayo Saka who tapped it in.
No early goal for England in this game however some fans and pundits could argue that this game was at least more promising than the last two group games. Southgate’s team showed more glimpses of fast and exciting football which the country has been begging for in recent memory. Despite that, England were still underwhelming, and the attack once again failed to deliver.
Slovenia set up well and have been well known as a tough team to break down but fans still have the right to question the performances of the Three Lions players and manager.
Anthony Gordon after the game expressed similar sentiments regarding recent England Performances: “Our aim was to make a statement and correct our performances in the last two games, I still think we’re in that place, I think we’ve still got to do better.”
Gordon, alongside Cole Palmer, came off the bench for their first appearance of the tournament and impressed as they added positive energy to the attack after a mostly stale showing from Saka and Foden. Southgate’s substitutes overall made a positive impact on the game and added a freshness to the side that The Three Lions have thoroughly missed.
Connor Gallagher was hooked off at halftime after Southgate dropped Trent Alexander-Arnold in favour of a natural midfielder. The Chelsea midfielder’s performance could reflect that Southgate is severely struggling to find a suitable partner for Rice despite England’s pool of talent in midfield.
England’s defence was rarely ever threatened against Slovenia and has proved in the group stage to be stronger than fans might have anticipated. However, with no disrespect to England’s opponents so far, no side has had the quality in attack to test Southgate’s defence.
Fans should be pleased that England have successfully qualified to the knock-out rounds as winners of the group, however, if Southgate wants to win this tournament, then the performances must improve to compete with stronger nations.
Comments