To the rhythm of the melody of Dancing in the darkone of the greats hits by Bruce Springsteen, the 20,000 English fans who showed up at the Frankfurt Arena sang in chorus Phil Foden it’s on fire. The trendy song among fans of the pross He sounded optimistic on successive occasions before the match against Denmark began. When the match ended with the disappointment of a 1-1 draw and the poor play offered by her team, the English fans did not want to know anything about her players and even less about the coach, Gareth Southgate. They stampeded after everyone received a loud whistle when they headed to the back that was taken over by their fans. “We always need the fans. I must say that they have been brilliant in the stadiums and I can completely understand their frustration with the way we played,” said a dejected Southgate at the end of the match. “It’s my fault,” he stressed.
England is not there and in its disorientation the talent of Foden, Bellingham, Saka and the scoring ability of Kane are buried by a flat and disjointed game in which each one tries to wage war on their own. The poverty of the game has lowered the status of great favorite for the title with which England entered this European Championship. The English already have four points and their qualification for the round of 16 is not in jeopardy because at least they will be among the four best third parties in the group. However, restlessness and restlessness have settled in a team that right now seems to not know what it is playing.
In the press room of the Frankfurt coliseum, the English coach reached for the water bottle while his face showed the anguish of the coach who is known to be the target of criticism. Southgate sipped short drinks while he listened to the sharp questions from the British press. One of them went straight to the heart of his tactical approach against Serbia and Denmark. They asked him about the position of Arnold, Liverpool’s right back, as a pivot. This has been the invention with which Southgate has planted himself in the Euro Cup to try to impose a 4-3-3 that has failed in the midfield. “We know it’s an experiment, we have no natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips, but we are trying some different things. At the moment, we are not flowing as we would like, that’s for sure,” Southgate admitted. The allusion to Kalvin Phillips generated surprise among the English press present because it was Southgate himself who left him off the list of 26 called up when he considered that he was not fit. In England the debate about absences does not focus on Phillips. The lack of creativity shown against Serbians and Danes has focused Southgate’s criticism on the discarding of Jack Grealish, Rahim Sterling and Marcus Rashford.
Southgate, who is accused of building lineups taking into account the names of the players more than their performance, criticized and blamed himself on several occasions. “The team did not work and that is my responsibility. I am in control and I have to find solutions. The players are giving everything. We have to accept responsibility. We did not pass the ball with intensity and we conceded possession too easily,” he explained about his team’s poor play against the Danes.
“Our pressure was not intense enough and that gave us a problem. We have to find a way to be more compact,” Southgate continued analyzing. “These guys don’t lack effort,” the English coach defended again, “but we need to find more quality.” Unease overcomes Southgate, who announced before the Euro Cup that if he did not win England he would leave office.
“We are disappointed with the performance levels of the first two games and now we have to analyze them in depth and address the problems we have,” he added. The solution that is beginning to gain more strength is to no longer place Arnold as a pivot. His place would be taken by Mainoo (Manchester United) or Wharton (Crystal Palace). The invention will pass away.
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