England qualified for the knockout stage of the European Championship with a goalless draw with Slovenia, meaning they won Group C.
Gareth Southgate’s side have been disappointing in their first two matches in the tournament and there was little sign of a revolution in the first half of their final group match on Tuesday night. England controlled the ball but only made four shots on goal, and Bukayo Saka scored a goal that the referee canceled due to Phil Foden being offside.
Southgate took off midfielder Conor Gallagher at half-time in favor of Kobe Maino, and that led to a slight improvement in the performance, but ultimately, a negative display against the 57th ranked team in the world (England are fifth) will not inspire much confidence as they head into the game. To the knockout stage. .
Slovenia also qualified as the third-placed team, and will have to wait until the end of the group stage on Wednesday to find out who they will play in the round of 16. They finished the tournament with a similar record to group runners-up Denmark (including receiving the same number of yellow cards in all three matches) but lost out due to finishing lower in the European qualifying standings than the Danes.
Danny Taylor, Oliver Kay, Mark Curry, Dan Sheldon and Will Jeans analyze the key moments from the match.
Why did Jude Bellingham go off the boil? Yes, a sentence that didn’t seem very likely when he headed in a Bryan Robson-style header in the opening win over Serbia nine days ago.
But the hard truth is that we haven’t seen anything from Bellingham’s heyday since. We only get occasional glimpses of his brilliance – because more often than not he is brilliant – and this feels like a problem when England are struggling for cohesion in attack.
(Marvin Ibo Jingor – GES Sportfoto / Getty Images)
We build them to tear them down? never. If you love football, you have to admire this man’s talent. However, Bellingham was so erratic at times against Slovenia (and angry about it) that it was no surprise that Gareth Southgate entertained the idea of sending him off, putting Phil Foden in the middle and inserting Anthony Gordon into the line-up. Attacking role from the left side.
It never happened, but it must be a worry for Southgate, especially when Bellingham’s sub-par performance for Real Madrid in the Champions League final at the start of this month is also on his mind.
Danny Taylor
Did the English press seem more lively?
With England securing qualification on Monday evening without a ball being kicked thanks to the final results in the other matches, the focus here was as much on a strong performance as a result – especially off the ball.
Their poor performance against Denmark on Thursday prompted a pointed admission from Gareth Southgate.
“We know that with the profile of the players we have, we don’t feel like the way we press is really high up the pitch,” Southgate said. “We don’t think this is the physical level of the team at the moment.”
So, all eyes were on England’s defensive style against Slovenia. Verdict? Better, but still not great. Against Denmark, England’s 26 passes per defensive action (PPDA) – a measure in which a lower number indicates a more active pressing style – was the lowest combined pressing intensity recorded by England across their matches at Euro 2020, World Cup 2022 and Euro 2024.
The final group match on Tuesday saw an improvement, as 11 passes were allowed before defensive action was taken. Of course, the caveat is that England controlled the ball for long periods – meaning there were fewer opportunities to regain possession and show any defensive improvement.
The intent was clear from the first minute, when Harry Kane raced at goalkeeper Jan Oblak, backed up by Phil Foden, to pin his rival. -He needed aggression to win the ball up top, but coordination in individual runs was still lacking at times.
You can give Southgate’s side some credit for their improvement on Thursday, but in truth, it couldn’t have been much worse.
Mark Curry
Connor Gallagher’s experiment fails
Southgate dropped Trent Alexander-Arnold in favor of Conor Gallagher, replacing the Chelsea midfielder at half-time with Manchester United’s Kobe Maino.
Gallagher had no impact alongside Declan Rice, playing the ball forward seven times out of 20 passes in 45 minutes. This was nothing to shout about, and perhaps dispels the notion that Alexander-Arnold was holding the team back against Serbia and Denmark.
(Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
Gallagher’s half ended without him completing a dribble, creating a chance, winning a tackle or shooting. However, he lost the ball four times.
Southgate had a trial with Alexander-Arnold, and it didn’t work. Then he turned to Gallagher, and that didn’t work either.
Both players will no doubt be tired, with the England manager arguably having been hung out to dry after being given just 45 minutes here, so it will be interesting to see who Southgate plays alongside Rice in their last-16 tie. Against the third-place team, which will be decided on Sunday.
Dan Sheldon
The left-side problem in England: a review
Much has been made of England’s left wing causing problems on and off the ball against Denmark, with the right side looking more active – and stronger – with Bukayo Saka supported by the overlapping Kyle Walker.
By contrast, it was the left flank that England targeted most against Slovenia, with 42 per cent of their attacking touches coming in a third of the field – their highest percentage in the three group matches.
Phil Foden was moving across the pitch again, but there were some good rotations as he, Kieran Trippier and Declan Rice looked to create some triangles and combinations. When Foden came on, Jude Bellingham was pulling down the left side and trying to build some momentum.
Overall, there weren’t many exciting moments to shout about, but it was clear that Southgate’s side were putting more effort into that side of the pitch after such a disappointment in their previous game.
Mark Curry
England booed again
For the second time in three matches at Euro 2024, England fans booed at the final whistle after a disappointing performance. Gareth Southgate and the players tried to applaud the fans, but were greeted with shouts and jeers.
But this miserable draw against Slovenia was enough to confirm first place in Group C with one win and two draws (and only two goals scored) in three matches. The group, which witnessed five draws in its six matches, equaled its lowest level ever in terms of the number of goals scored (seven) in the first stage of the European Championship.
England’s reward will be to face the third-placed team in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday (5pm UK, noon ET). It could be the Netherlands, following their 3-2 defeat to Austria earlier in the day, but the draw will not be confirmed until the final two groups are finalized tomorrow (Wednesday). Go beyond that, and the winner of Saturday’s match between Switzerland and Italy will face the defending champions.
The list of potential semi-final competitors doesn’t look too intimidating either. With Spain, Germany, Portugal and France in the other half of the draw, there is a sense that the knockout stage looks favorable to England, just as it did in the 2018 World Cup, when they reached the semi-finals. finals with wins over Colombia (on penalties) and Sweden as one heavyweight after another fell to the other side of the draw.
But let’s be honest about this: England have been nervous so far at Euro 2024. International tournaments are rarely won by teams that play smooth football from start to finish, but Gareth Southgate and his team have a lot of work to do if they can pull it off. It is to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the lottery.
Oliver Kay
Perhaps this is a word directed at Jordan Pickford, who has now kept more clean sheets in major tournaments than any other England goalkeeper in history.
(Marvin Ibo Jingor – GES Sportfoto / Getty Images)
It was his 11th, taking him above Peter Shilton, and you sometimes have to wonder whether the Everton man deserves more credit for his international record.
There are only four goalkeepers – Shilton (125), David Seaman (75), Joe Hart (75) and Gordon Banks (73) – with more England caps. Although there are better ways to judge a goalkeeper than simply keeping a clean sheet, it is still an achievement that Pickford can break a record from a great player like Shilton.
Danny Taylor
Group C will not be remembered fondly
Only seven goals were scored in the six matches in Group C, which equals the record for the lowest-scoring group in the history of the European Championship.
The only other time a handful of goals like this were scored in a group was in 2016 when Germany, Poland, Northern Ireland and Ukraine were all sleepy in Group C as well. Only one match in that group ended in a 0-0 draw (Germany vs. Poland), but there were two in this year’s group (tonight’s matches).
Will jeans
What did Southgate say?
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Southgate said: “We controlled the whole game, especially in the second half. We pinned them down for very long periods. I was pleased that we had the composure not to get anxious. We know how the last week or so has been, and in Those moments when everyone is desperate to win, you start using the ball impatiently and find yourself in trouble.
“Really happy with the impact of all the players who came into the game. Of course, we would have liked to score two goals to take everyone home, but that didn’t happen tonight. It wasn’t because the players wanted to try, we just lacked that final touch. The final touch or the pass.” Let us down a little a few times.
What did Slovenia coach Matthias Kek say?
“I did not fully expect that we would pass. We showed with our play that we deserved to qualify. We were playing one of the favorites for the tournament today. We showed mental fortitude. When we became negative, we had problems. England had a great chance in the 90th minute but Jan (Oblak, The goalkeeper didn’t do much work. We played against a very strong team. I’m very proud of this team.
“We struggled in the second half. They were dominant, they upped their game. But if we don’t struggle against England, it’s not right. Congratulations to England for getting first place but we deserve congratulations too. They had that chance at the end and we were lucky, but luck What we didn’t have against Serbia (conceding an equalizer in stoppage time in a match they were winning 1-0), we got today.
“For such a small country, I’m sure everyone will be happy for us. I’m very proud of my team and I think this is the beginning of a new and beautiful era for Slovenian football.
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(Top image: Getty Images)
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