England were criticised for a “basic” and disjointed performance in the first half of their final Group C match against Slovenia at Euro 2024.
Aside from a few Harry Kane shots from distance – and a Bukayo Saka tap-in which was ruled out for offside in the buildup – the Three Lions rarely threatened, looking comfortable in possession but not taking the game to Slovenia with any great regularity.
Ange Postecoglou suggested England’s desire to press more in their third game was being hampered by the fact they actually had domination of the ball, and mooted his belief that the latest midfield iteration – Conor Gallagher having replaced Trent Alexander-Arnold in the starting XI – was not quite of the right balance.
“We spoke a lot about intensity and there are two ways to do it, on the ball and off, which is how England do it with a press today. The problem is that they’ve had a lot of the ball,” he said.
“I think the midfield set-up is not there to play the way they’re trying. You need someone in there with the vision and clarity of thought to put it further forward.”
Roy Keane went further, saying Gareth Southgate’s players were taking the safe option rather than trying to make things happen often enough. “The passing is a bit slow, a bit slopppy, the one good bit we saw led to the [offside] goal. But Slovenia are no mugs – one goal and they top the group,” he pointed out.
“It’s little details, the passes are behind someone. The strikers have to be brave enough to lose the ball, they’re taking the safe option every time.”
Ian Wright spoke about the lack of tempo from England on the ball and Gary Neville likened it to individuals doing their own thing, rather than the team playing to a defined plan.
“What we’re watching is a collection of single passes. There are no inbuilt patterns where they know where they’re going. We look really basic and it’s sad because we’re better than that. The players out there are better and the players on the bench are better than that.”
England remained top of the group in the live standings at the break, with Denmark and Serbia also locked at 0-0.
With the news during the interval that England were replacing Gallagher with Kobbie Mainoo, Neville labelled it a “positive” change ahead of the second half.