I DON’T think you can hide away from the fact that the 0-0 draw with Slovenia was deeply disappointing.
Even though England have won the group.
And it’s not a surprise that there’s been lots of chatter from England supporters, over the last few hours expressing their dismay at how the team have been playing at the Euros.
We all know they can play a lot better. I think they will do, and I think there are a few reasons to be positive.
First of all, I’m starting with the defence. Mark Guehi, I think, has been outstanding.
I think he’s been England‘s best player over the three games.
There was a worry for me that they might miss Harry Maguire, purely because of his experience in the last three tournaments.
But Guehi, he’s come in and he’s developed a good partnership with John Stones.
He’s been confident and I have absolutely no doubts that he will continue to play well in the last 16 on Sunday.
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ENGLAND served up another underwhelming performance – but still managed to top Group C.
England dominated the ball, but Southgate will have plenty of questions to answer after a third straight display that lacked inspiration.
SunSport’s Tom Barclay has given his ratings of the England players.
Jordan Pickford – 6
Largely a spectator due to England’s dominance on the ball. Asked the touchline what the Denmark score was during one break in the second half.
Kieran Trippier – 6
The one positive of having a right-footed player playing left-back is that he can dispatch in-swinging crosses, and one such one should have been headed home by Conor Gallagher before the break.
Marc Guehi – 7
Cruyff turn early doors showed his confidence from excellent displays against Serbia and Denmark, and barring one loose pass was good again.
John Stones – 6
One of many to miss his target with his passing. He wasn’t bad but, like others, way off what he has produced for his club.
Kyle Walker – 5
Played so safe, rarely looked to get forward. Was lucky at one point that Pickford was alive to his blast of a pass-back. Sliced cross after break summed up his off-night.
Conor Gallagher – 4
Got the nod after the Trent Alexander-Arnold midfield experiment ended, but was poor, particularly, in possession and replaced at half-time by Kobbie Mainoo.
Declan Rice – 7
Had promised an “in your face” performance from his team, but he was really the only one to produce it. Very good out of possession, much better than against Denmark.
Phil Foden – 7
Liveliest of England’s attacking four by a mile and went close with a stinging free-kick. Booked for dissent, summing up England’s frustration.
Jude Bellingham – 5
Cut a very frustrated figure as he and Harry Kane got in each other’s way at times, while he was often shunted wide left as Phil Foden moved into the middle.
Bukayo Saka – 6
Tapped home on 20 minutes, but it was ruled out for offside in the build-up. OK but once again subbed after the break, perhaps due to fitness concerns.
Harry Kane – 6
Insists he is 100 per cent fit and maybe he is. What is 100 per cent certain is that he has been nowhere near as effective in this tournament as he usually is for England, albeit he was marginally better here.
Substitutes
Kobbie Mainoo (for Gallagher at half-time) – 7
Made a difference when coming on, making England much more positive in their play. So much more confident with his touch than Gallagher.
Cole Palmer (for Bukayo Saka on 71) – 7
Finally made an appearance at this tournament and one clever ball through for Mainoo showed what he can do.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (for Kieran Trippier on 84) – 6
Came on for the final few minutes at right-back, with Walker going to left-back.
Anthony Gordon (for Phil Foden on 88) – 6
Like Palmer, first minutes at the Euros, but too late to make an impact.
Declan Rice has impressed me. He’s played like a captain.
He spoke positively ahead of the Slovenia game and I thought for the first 20 to 25 minutes that he really was outstanding.
He didn’t do everything right, he’s had a few difficult moments. But he really does look a class act.
And he’s leading by example and I’ve absolutely no doubt he’ll do the same on Sunday.
This brings me on to number three and that’s Rice’s partner next to him.
It’s not going to be Trent Alexander-Arnold. And it’s not gonna be Conor Gallagher. But Kobbie Mainoo came on in a difficult situation at half time.
And I thought the Manchester United teenager was excellent again. He knows he can do better.
I’m sure he’ll do better, but it was still an accomplished performance from him and he’s going to be a huge player over the next few years.
I wasn’t so sure that he was totally ready to be thrown in at the deep end, but I thought he did well against Slovenia and I’m sure that he will keep his place.
That brings us to Cole Palmer again. He had 20-odd minutes against Slovenia and he looked like he’s really ready to take the Euros by storm.
There’s a lot more to come from him, but I thought it was the right decision to play him.
And I would start him now on Sunday because I feel that Bukayo Saka, as excellent player as he is, still doesn’t look 100 per cent.
So I would put Palmer in for Bukayo Saka.
That brings us on to Harry Kane.
There’s been a lot of criticism of the captain over the last day or so, but I think it’d be absolutely ludicrous to put him on the bench.
And there’s absolutely no chance of that happening, even though some fans are demanding it.
You only have to look at his international record to justify his place in the starting XI. He’s only scored once so far, he could have scored one or two others.
But the key thing for me is I thought he was better against Slovenia. His movement was better.
And I think if you look at Kane’s performances over the years when he has suffered an injury, he normally does take a few weeks, even if he’s only out for a couple of weeks, he normally takes three or four weeks to get back to his best.
So I’m sure that he will be back to his best. He needs to be back to his best on Sunday.
Just a shoutout to the England fans. There was concern over how they behaved over here.
I think they’ve behaved pretty well at the last few tournaments when England had been abroad.
But, of course, you can’t hide the fact that some of them acted disgracefully at Wembley three years ago, even though most of them, or none of them, weren’t really proper England fans.
And while there were problems in Marseille, in Euro 2016 those who have come out to Germany, have enjoyed themselves.
There have been a few idiots singing about German bombers, but certainly, ahead of the game in Cologne, there were what, over 10,000 fans wasn’t a single incident, let alone an arrest.
And I know that’s what you should expect from all football fans. But that’s not been the case over the years.
But I think the demographic has changed a bit with the England fans and they’re not coming out to pick fights with the police and the security – famous last words.
Hopefully, that’s not the case. Hopefully, they’ll enjoy their return to Gelsenkirchen.
But most important of all, let’s hope they’ll watch a much better England performance and that they’ll all be able to prepare for a quarter-final in Dusseldorf.
