Gareth Southgate delivered his verdict on England’s 1-1 draw with Denmark, a display greeted with derision by some fans and many pundits. They remain top of Group C, on course for the knockout stage, but with fears that their flaws will be brutally exposed by the better sides lurking on the road to Berlin. Having sat in the basement of Frankfurt Arena and listened to Southgate, here’s my verdict on his verdict.
Reaction man. Southgate: “To achieve extraordinary things, you have to go through some difficult moments.” It sounds like the message from a good luck card. “I’m the manager and I’ve got to guide this group in the best way possible.” It’s down to Southgate now to trigger the right reaction from his players with his selection, tactics, substitutions. He has to show he can live with elite coaches. He didn’t against Croatia’s Zlatko Dalic in the 2018 World Cup semi-final, Italy’s Roberto Mancini in the Euro 2020 final, and now Denmark’s Kasper Hjulmand who had his team better balanced and organised. Southgate has to raise his game, be more decisive. Players are used to that at their clubs.
Midfield. Southgate went strong here, and got quite emotional in fact, and perhaps not considering the impact his verdict might have on some of his younger midfielders like Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton, embedded in Premier League midfields and desperate to play for England. Southgate: “We’ve been trying to find a solution in midfield for the last seven or eight years. If we hadn’t had Declan Rice, I don’t know where we’d have been. Unfortunately, Kalvin (Phillips) wasn’t possible for this tournament and ‘Hendo’ (Jordan Henderson) the same.” Three things: 1, what message does that send to Mainoo and Wharton? Mainoo can play that more defensive role, the 6, as his tackling range and reading of the game has shown for United. Wharton’s a good tackler, as seen at Crystal Palace, and with a very positive pass selection. 2, Rice has been at his best this season for Arsenal with Thomas Partey covering behind, allowing the £100m man to raid upfield. 3, Conor Gallagher came on and tried to make England more compact. Gallagher would definitely see himself as part of the potential solution to England’s midfield woes.