Manager Gareth Southgate admits that England are struggling in midfield at Euro 2024, having not yet found a “natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips.”
The Three Lions drew 1-1 with Denmark on Thursday, leaving them top of Group C and in a strong position to qualify for the last 16. However, just as in their 1-0 win over Serbia on Sunday, Southgate’s side failed to maintain control of the match and did not perform at their best.
Phillips, 28, had been pivotal in England’s run to the European Championship final in 2021, but was not selected for the tournament in Germany following a disappointing loan spell with West Ham and limited appearances at Manchester City.
Former Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson, 34, who was crucial in the 2018 World Cup when England reached the semi-finals, was also left out of the 26-man squad.
Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, an attacking right-back for his club, has partnered with Arsenal’s Declan Rice in midfield for England’s two games in the tournament. However, Alexander-Arnold, 25, was substituted early in the second half, replaced by Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher, as England often found themselves second best.
On Alexander-Arnold, Southgate said: “He has had some moments where he has delivered as we thought. It’s an experiment – we don’t have a natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips. At the moment we’re not flowing as we would like.”
In Frankfurt, Harry Kane gave England an 18th-minute lead with his first goal of the tournament, but Denmark equalized 16 minutes later with a long-range strike from Morten Hjulmand.
Despite being 16 places below fifth-placed England in the FIFA rankings, Denmark were the better team for large parts of the second half. England did come close to scoring again when Phil Foden hit the post, but Southgate’s side couldn’t find a winning goal that would have secured their place in the knockout stages with a game to spare.
“We understand people will be disappointed with the performances and rightly so – we have to make them a lot better,” said Southgate in an interview on BBC One.
“At the moment we’re not using the ball well enough and have to accept if you do that you will suffer at times, as we have. We know there’s another level we have to find.”
Southgate, who has taken charge of 97 England matches, felt his side were losing possession too easily.
“There’s a huge amount of work to do, that’s evident from the two performances we have given – clearly it was not what we would’ve hoped for,” added Southgate.
“We’ve played teams that are quite fluid in a back three and it’s not easy to get pressure on them but we definitely have to do better than we have done in these two matches, that has been part of the problem – but also not keeping the ball well enough.”
‘You don’t just turn up and take three points’
Kane has now scored 64 goals in 93 England games and became the third man – along with Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney – to score at four major international tournaments for England.
“We said before the tournament there’s no easy games in tournament football and that’s showing,” said England captain Kane. “We’ve got levels we can reach and we can be better with and without the ball, no question.
“A sign of a good team is getting a result but not playing the best. But we are all but qualified and that’s the number one objective and we can improve.
“I know there will be a bit of noise and disappointment back home but we experienced this in the last Euros when we drew [0-0] with Scotland [and later reached the final].”
England face Slovenia in Cologne on Tuesday knowing a win would guarantee them top spot and a last-16 match against a third-placed team from either Group D, Group E or Group F.
“We’re top of the group, let’s try to take the positives and move on to the next game,” said defender Kyle Walker.
“We’ve got enough up front to score goals and enough to defend as a team. Let’s take it as a point, a well-deserved point. We all know as a team we have got another gear but we’ve not lost a game.”
Walker, who has won the Premier League title six times with Manchester City and the Champions League, added: “The manager wants us to play free, attacking football. Just like in the Champions League, it’s not a walk through, you don’t just turn up and take three points. We know we can do better but we’re top of the group.
“Everyone wants us to steamroller teams three or four nil but that’s not football. It’s tournament football. This is a good Denmark team.”
Denmark, who lost to England in the semi-finals of the last European Championship in 2021, have drawn both their matches in Germany 1-1, but will qualify if they beat Serbia in Munich on Tuesday.
Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen felt his team were the better side.
He said: “If there was a team to win it was supposed to be us. I don’t think England surprised us in any way. We know they have exceptional players. We hurt them with the chances we had and we should’ve won instead of getting a draw.
“We still have a game to go – we need a win against Serbia, nothing else. It is good progress from our last game and we need three points.”