Gareth Southgate believes that England are yet to hit “another level” after a scrappy 1-1 draw against Denmark at UEFA Euro 2024.
Harry Kane put England in front but Morten Hjulmand netted an equaliser for Denmark but the Three Lions clung on to stay top of Group C.
“It was clearly not what we would have hoped, we are not using the ball well enough and we have to accept if you do that you are going to suffer at times like we have tonight,” commented Southgate on England’s lacklustre performance.
Southgate iterated that his squad need to find “another level” but felt that their issues were partly down to the oppositional formations.
“We have played teams that are quite fluid in back threes, it’s not easy to get pressure on them and we need to do that better than we have done in these two matches.
“It has been part of the problem, but not keeping the ball has also been a big part of the problem.”
Just nine minutes into the second half, Southgate substituted Trent Alexander-Arnold for Conor Gallagher which he explained was down to the need for more “energy,” which struggled to come with Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Kane substituted in an attempt to spark fresh attacking intensity.
Southgate however admitted that he is still experimenting with his team’s tactics and that there is still room for improvement.
“We are trying some different things and at the moment we are not flowing as we would like.
“There is a huge amount of work [to do]. That is evident from the two performances that we have given.
“We have to stay tight, we understand people will be disappointed with the performances and rightly so. We have got to make them better.”
Now I am an England fan all the way! However, we cannot continue passing back to Pickford especially from opposition’s half. Passes that are intercepted easily and give the opposing team chances to shoot and score. We got away with it against Denmark but will be punished as we progress.
Let’s be dynamic and play attacking football.
Get the basics right, foot to foot passing, play forward from the midfield, not our own goal mouth.
Be brave, be dynamic and the three lions will roar!