England, Southgate Disappoint in Draw vs Denmark

Following England’s narrow victory over Serbia in their first match of the group stage at Euro 2024, we were left with lots of questions. While some of those got answered in their 1-1 draw against Denmark in their second game, a whole new set of questions has been uncovered. England took the lead in this game inside of 20 minutes via a Harry Kane goal and proceeded to sit deep and be second best for the rest of the game, seemingly content with their lone goal. Obviously, they were punished for this, as a Morten Hjulmand screamer tied things up before halftime. Denmark was strong for the rest of the game, looking the better side, but failed to come away with a go-ahead goal. 

In my opinion, this was the most disturbing game at a major tournament of the Gareth Southgate era. He has gotten by on results that back up his practical, “team over everything”, methods thus far. The decision to sit deep and be content with a one-goal lead in the first half was not new for a Southgate team, but it felt like such a waste of the plethora of attacking talent England have. They invited pressure, and Denmark accepted the invitation, not letting up for the rest of the game. England could barely get the ball out of their half at times. They were overwhelmed in midfield. I have never seen Declan Rice look so rattled. The Trent Alexander-Arnold midfield experiment has failed. The only time Phil Foden found success in this game was when he wandered out of position to create shooting chances for himself. That says all you need to know. Too many players are being shoehorned into this team. 

The most inexcusable part of the game came in the 70th minute when Southgate substituted Kane, Bukayo Saka, and Foden all at once for Ollie Watkins, Jarrod Bowed, and Eberichi Eze. Southgate might be able to hide behind the idea that he is resting these players for the big games, but these are three proven players who deserve to be in the England squad. All three were playing good games. Kane had a goal, Foden was finding success and creating chances for himself when drifting inside, and Saka put in another strong wing performance. It felt like Southgate punting on a possible win. 

The Kane substitution felt especially egregious. Harry Kane is the captain of England. He is their all-time leading goal scorer. Kane can play up front, or in behind the striker as a number 10, and is far and away the biggest goal/assist threat in the team. In my opinion, Southgate is lucky Kane is so mild-mannered. Most other truly world-class players would throw a tantrum or blame the manager for the poor result, and that might be what Southgate deserves after this. 

There were a few bright spots for the Three Lions. Foden drifting into the middle and creating chances needs to happen more. It was nice to see that he can still be world-class in the right spot, and it exposed Southgate’s mistake of playing him on the left wing. Marc Guehi has cemented his place at center back alongside John Stones. He was probably England’s best player. Jude Bellingham still had world-class moments, notably a through ball to Watkins that the striker couldn't quite finish off. Another bright spot is that Denmark are, in fact, a good side. They were not more talented or accomplished than England, but they were a real test. England didn’t lose. 

Here would be my solution for the knockout stages which England will likely play in. Move Bellingham further back, into Alexander-Arnold’s spot in midfield. Play Foden as the central attacking midfielder and play Marcus Rashford on the left wing. Wait a minute! Southgate left Rashford, the perfect counterattacking forward, at home for the Euros. I guess he could play Cole Palmer or Eze on the left instead. While it’s important to be practical in knockout tournaments, Southgate needs to understand the level of talent on his roster and trust that there is enough to score more than one goal per game. He manages perhaps the most talented team at the Euros like they are Sheffield United going up against Manchester City. It could cost him his job and his team a trophy.