Before the start of the European Championship, England, together with France, was still the top favorite for final victory. After the second group match, expectations are suddenly a lot lower. The star team of national coach Gareth Southgate won the first match against Serbia with ease (0-1-), and England also made a tame impression against Denmark, after which they were stuck at a 1-1 draw. The usually critical English press did not mince its words.
The Daily Mail: “The ‘Three Lions’ do not roar”
“If we play like tonight, we’ll be out quickly,” ‘The Daily Mail’ got straight to the point. “We were outplayed by Denmark from minute one to the end. England were sloppy in possession, did not play together and lacked confidence and cohesion. It was clumsy and vulgar, especially compared to the opponent,” said the newspaper, which headlined “the ‘Three Lions’ don’t roar.”
According to the British newspaper, there was “not one player who stood out”. And that translated into the player ratings after the match. For example, Jude Bellingham, who played against Serbia last match, had to make do with an unsatisfactory score: 4.5 / 10. “Bellingham kept the ball for too long and did not win his duels. Perhaps Phil Foden was the least bad,” judged ‘The Daily Mail’.
National coach Southgate was also not left out of the picture. In particular, his choice to play Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield for the second game in a row was met with incomprehension. “That plan is now completely in tatters. This unusual role is clearly not for him.” Afterwards, Southgate admitted it was an “experiment” to use Alexander-Arnold as a midfielder. The expectation in the English press is that the national coach will opt for an accomplished midfielder against Slovenia.
© The Daily Mail
Roy Keane
Roy Keane, former Manchester United player and now working as a ‘pundit’, also exposed the same pain points, but – in typical style – added some extra salt to the wound. He was particularly dissatisfied with the choice of Alexander-Arnold in midfield.
“It’s a huge gamble to put someone there who doesn’t play in that position every week for his club. He came up short in two games and was also substituted twice. That’s not a good sign. It was a very difficult assignment for him and he is not ready for it. Of course it’s not all his fault. This can be attributed to Southgate. He thinks too much about things and fails to bring courage and courage to the team. ”
Declan Rice also disappointed, but according to Keane that was a logical consequence of the national coach’s tactical choices. “Rice had to babysit Alexander-Arnold. That is not possible at this level. Then you will be trumped.”
© The Daily Mail
The Guardian: “Southgate raised eyebrows”
After the failure against Denmark, the English press has little confidence that England can win the European Championship. “It’s Coming Home”, the song that the English fans have been singing loudly and continuously every tournament since the World Cup in Russia, does not seem to be applicable this year either.
“England never had control. We didn’t believe in it. As if the pressure was too much. We lacked structure in midfield and attacking patterns were missing,” said ‘The Guardian’, which saw three players mainly stand out. “Alexander-Arnold, Rice and Bellingham had a very difficult evening. Southgate raised eyebrows (because of his tactical choices, ed.). He had insisted on accurate passing, but England were terrible in that area.”
The day after the disappointment, ‘The Guardian’ came up with two analyzes about the game of the “Tamed Lions” – dixit ‘The Sun’. “England has reached a new low with a performance that was too bad to be boring,” said Jonathan Liew, reporter on the ground in Frankfurt for the British newspaper. His colleague Barney Ronay wrote about a “terrified England” that “has no functioning midfield”.
© The Guardian
BBC: “Disgraceful and disappointing”
“We could be satisfied with a point after this disgraceful display. England put in a poor performance in Frankfurt and failed to qualify for the eighth finals,” the BBC began the merciless judgment. “After Kane’s opening goal we crawled back and let the opponent into the match, which happened all too often under Southgate. The equalizer was anything but undeserved. Things will have to be much better against Slovenia. It was a disappointing performance by a potential European Championship favorite.”
