For many years, England went to the big tournaments imbued with the arrogance that came from the cradle of football and the conquest of the World Cup it organized in 1966. With better or worse players and coaches, they proclaimed themselves favorites due to their pedigree. In this Euro Cup, in which this afternoon they play against Eriksen’s Denmark, the English revive that feeling that this time they will be able to win the championship with a simple reasoning. They maintain their area and their mystique, but they also believe in victory because with the best player in the Premier League, Phil Foden, the one from the Bundesliga, Harry Kane, and the one from Spain, Jude Bellingham, only bad luck or a bad coach Gareth Southgate’s management could deprive them of success in the Berlin final. Southgate himself has contributed to generating that atmosphere that not winning would be a failure when in an interview at the Bild He assured that if they did not win he would leave the team.
In the first match against Serbia, Southgate did not come out well despite the victory. The idea of playing Alexander-Arnold as a central midfielder alongside Declan Rice did not work. The English internationals themselves did not seem enthusiastic about the invention. During many phases of the game, the Liverpool full-back was ignored by his teammates. If they could, they skipped it and gave the pass to another player. Arnold ended up leaning to the side
Southgate’s decision had caused such a traffic jam that Bellingham fired his intention to be the most relevant and participatory player of the pross. He began to go down to the center of the field to ask for the ball. He seemed to want to be in all parts of the field. Bellingham scored the goal that gave England the victory, but Southgate gave him a hint. “I would like everything not to focus on a single player,” he came to say at the end of the match. Like Bellingham, Foden also noticed that he was not getting balls and he also dedicated himself to going down to look for them. The Manchester City attacker also lives with the pressure of having to be a differential in the English team. The award for best player in the last Premier League has reinforced that role. Harry Kane also suffered greatly from the lack of fluidity in the development of England’s offensive game.
“Over the years we have had good players and we have them now. The team’s success won’t depend on Jude alone. Not everything can rest on his shoulders. “Everyone has to contribute,” said Southgate in the press conference prior to the duel against the Danes. “There is more noise around each national team than there ever is about a club. Millions of people in your own country, extensive media coverage, a guy writes a comment on social media and that’s a story in a newspaper. So it is a different world,” said the English coach, who was happy with the performance of his players against Serbia, especially in the first 30 minutes. “The players started the game exceptionally well and defended brilliantly. And I think they will be better in this game for having already played,” he clarified. Southgate confirmed Shaw’s absence.
That dullness of the English and the resistance of Serbia gave rise to the match with the fewest shots on goal in the history of the European Championship. Of 11 shots (five by the English), only four were between the three sticks.
Against Denmark, Southgate will have to resolve those ego problems on the field that Bellingham and Foden showed and decide if he maintains the idea of Arnold as a pivot. All to continue feeding the fact that this England is a favorite not only because of its divinity as the inventor of the game, but also as the owner of a great squad.
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