Weeks before the start of the Euro 22024, everyone had England to get their Euro 2024 final tickets. Fast forward two games later, England is struggling. A single close win and a draw against Denmark, and the English are struggling.
Recap
England will begin Euro 2024 in Group C and hope to navigate a set of fixtures that looks kind on paper – with Denmark and Slovenia following the nervy opening win over Serbia.
Things should get harder from there, where England, will need to be the third qualifying team, from the group and will have to face a tougher opponent such as ~Germany, Spain or Italy. If they could pass the round of 16, it would be just two wins to glory.
Back in 2021 when the competition came alive in England, England saw an agonizing defeat in the final to Italy. All the fans that day were heartbroken by the result, but now they know that their team has a second chance/chance to get Euro 2024 final tickets and to see England play.
Here’s a look at how things stand at the moment.
Group C fixtures
- Match 1 June 16 – Serbia 0-1 England
- Match 2 June 20 – Denmark 1-1 England (Frankfurt)
- Match 3 June 25 – England vs Slovenia (Cologne)
If England finish top of the group
Last-16: June 30 – England vs Third-placed team from Group D, E or F
Finals: July 14th
*Euro 2024 final tickets are now out!
The End of the Trent Alexander Arnold Experiment?
Gareth Southgate has more questions now than before England began this European Championships, and he has more concerns about his team’s longevity in the tournament.
English fans with Euro 2024 final tickets constantly question whether this combination hurts the side’s chances of reaching the playoffs.
England are still unbeaten and almost certainly have enough points already to qualify for the knockout stages. That should not be overlooked or downplayed. But in reality, there are very few more positives.
All the worries we focused on in the build-up—the dubious fitness and form of key players, the lack of left-footed options for the left flank, the apparent lack of tempo and a playing identity—have been laid bare in the opening two Group C games.
None of those are Southgate’s fault, but all are his problems to solve. As it was for Serbia, so it proved against Denmark—England took the lead but fundamentally failed to press home their advantage and was often second best to an opponent that, on paper, should have been cannon fodder for any Euros favorites.
That assessment does Serbia and Denmark a disservice because both were better than billed and had specific game plans to exploit England’s weaknesses.
Of course, there were mitigating circumstances in Frankfurt—temperatures in the mid-twenties Celsius throughout, with very high humidity only made worse by UEFA’s bizarre decision to keep the stadium roof closed.
The pitch, too, needed to be better. Too often, England’s players lost their footing or found a sticky surface that stilted their possession-based football. But Jordan Pickford told me after the game that was no excuse – England should be better and adapt. Honest. And correct.
Southgate chose never to train at the stadium on the day before the game, even though UEFA allows it.
He prefers to keep his tactical-specific preparation away from prying eyes in the privacy of England’s training base. If his protocols were otherwise, England’s players might have been pre-warned about the pitch, and they might have worn the proper boots from the start.
We should credit Southgate for his bold substitutions. Ever since he took over in 2016, the coach has been criticized for sitting on his hands when his original game plan wasn’t working – sticking rigidly to his routine of only making changes on the hour mark at the earliest.
Such criticism was disproved in the Frankfurt Arena. Conor Gallagher was introduced in 54 minutes, and there were three more positive changes before 70 minutes when the manager accepted that ‘Plan B’ was needed. That Southgate is prepared to dip more quickly into the pool of talent on his bench is a hugely positive sign.
However, Southgate still needs to rectify a plethora of other issues ahead of England’s final group game with Slovenia on Tuesday night, including Trent Alexander Arnold’s next step. He (Alexander-Arnold) knows. Southgate knows, and the fans know. Both are intelligent footballers. They both know it isn’t working.
Alexander-Arnold’s passing was sublime early on as he sprayed the ball left and right to England’s widemen. But in his new position, there are better options that Southgate will need to try out if they want England to make it work.
But his basic midfield positional sense is not ingrained in his makeup, and when he [at times] got caught with the ball in dangerous areas on the edge of his box, England were in peril, and you could see his confidence ebb away. It is not his fault. It is not his game. It should be pursued no further.
Gallagher made a difference, inevitably, when he came on. He is a natural – and naturally gifted – No 8 who is as good on the ball as he is off it. That is why many persistently courted him in this summer’s transfer market. The third midfield spot alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham looks to him for the keeping. Southgate’s experiment – to try to include England’s best ball player and crosser in a bespoke role – has yet to work. And it’s a shame.
On top of that, Harry Kane has shown lacklustre form in the last two outings. He’s been slow at the front and not getting his execution right. This is adversely affecting the team with their best player dropping the bar.
He’s got good assistance on the wings, with Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka, but it feels like there’s a disconnect and that Kane hasn’t really lived up to expectations. But there’s still hope. England will make the Round of 16 and that’s where he will really need to amp up his game.
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