ANPDeclan Rice
NOS Voetbal•vandaag, 11:29
The knives are being sharpened in England after the 1-1 draw against Denmark yesterday at the European Championship in Germany. Lifeless. Lukewarm. These are just some of the descriptions that former captain Gary Lineker gave to the game of the national team.
Yes, England remains top of the group with four points. But the team did not really convince in the first match against Serbia, an economical 1-0 victory. And so there is reason for concern in the country. After all, expectations are high after the final place in 2021.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher asked himself: “My biggest concern? England look tired. They’re not getting close to the ball. The most obvious sign of fatigue is dropping deep. Declan Rice has to cover so much space. No one can telling me this is a strategy.”
National coach Gareth Southgate in particular has to pay the price. “The current balance in the team means that players cannot reach their level, as they can do at their clubs,” said former defender Rio Ferdinand. “Phil Foden is out of position, Jude Bellingham could better play more centrally. I am very concerned about that.”
View the summary of Denmark – England
“There is so much more to get out of this,” says Alan Shearer. The former striker and analyst focuses on Harry Kane, who looked nothing like the striker who scored 44 goals in 45 games for Bayern Munich this season.
“As I got older I needed speed around me,” Shearer said. “I could still score, but I couldn’t make those runs. That’s what Kane has to deal with now. That’s why I would play with Anthony Gordon, because Foden currently plays in the same places as Kane.”
No speed whatsoever
Shearer: “I saw players lying on their backs after the final whistle. That is simply not possible, because they put no energy into this match at all. There was no speed in this match. It was only in the last fifteen minutes that I saw some runs behind the defense of Denmark.”
Former international Gary Lineker agrees with Ferdinand and Shearer: “You have two tasks as a striker: scoring and creating spaces. He needs a manager who demands more from him.”
Walker after game: ‘A well-deserved point’
Captain Harry Kane himself said afterwards: “We did not reach our level when it comes to retaining possession and playing football under pressure. We have difficulty with and without the ball. We have to look at that carefully.”
And national coach Southgate? He took the blame and admitted that his team “did not function” and “did not meet expectations”.
“That is my responsibility. It is up to me to find better solutions than we did in these two matches. There is still a lot of work to be done. We have to keep working together, but I understand if people are disappointed with our performance. We can and should do better than this.
2024-06-21 09:29:55
#gained
