I DON’T think you can hide the fact that the 0-0 draw with Slovenia was deeply disappointing.
Even though England won the group.
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And it’s no surprise that there has been a lot of talk from English fans, in recent hours expressing their dismay at the way the team has performed at the Euros.
We all know they can play much better. I think so, and I think there are some reasons to be positive.
Reason One
Firstly, I start with the defense. Mark Guehi, I think, has been excellent.
I think he was Englandis the best player in the three games.
I was concerned that they might miss Harry Maguire, simply because of his experience over the last three tournaments.
But Guehi arrived and developed a good partnership with John Stones.
He is confident and I have no doubt that he will continue to play well in the round of 16 on Sunday.
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England player ratings: Southgate’s Gallagher experiment fails miserably against Slovenia
ENGLAND produced another dismal performance – but still managed to top Group C.
England dominated the ball but Southgate will have plenty of questions to answer after a third successive uninspired display.
SunSport’s Tom Barclay gave his assessments of the English players.
Jordan Pickford – 6
Largely a spectator due to England’s dominance on the ball. He asked the sideline what Denmark’s score was during a second-half break.
Kieran Trippier-6
The only positive point about having a right-handed player playing at left-back is that he can deliver crosses, and one of those should have been headed in by Conor Gallagher before half-time.
Marc Guehi-7
Cruyff’s early turn showed his confidence in excellent displays against Serbia and Denmark, and barring a dropped pass it was good again.
John’s Stones – 6
One of many who missed the target with his pass. It wasn’t bad but, like others, a far cry from what he produced for his club.
Kyle Walker – 5
He played very confidently, rarely trying to advance. At one point I was lucky that Pickford was aware of his return blast. Cruz cut after the break summed up his night off.
Conor Gallagher-4
He received the nod after the trial of midfielder Trent Alexander-Arnold ended, but had little possession of the ball, mainly, and was replaced at half-time by Kobbie Mainoo.
Declan Rice – 7
He had promised an “in-your-face” performance from his team, but he was actually the only one to produce it. Very good in terms of ball possession, much better than against Denmark.
Phil Foden-7
England’s liveliest forward four by a mile and went close with a free kick. Announced by dissent, summing up England’s frustration.
Jude Bellingham-5
He looked very frustrated as he and Harry Kane got in each other’s way at times, while he was often sent wide to the left when Phil Foden moved into the middle.
Bukayo Saka-6
He hit the target in the 20th minute, but it was disallowed for offside in the build-up. OK, but again replaced after the break, perhaps due to physical problems.
Harry Kane – 6
He insists he is 100% in shape and maybe he is. What is 100 percent certain is that he has not been as effective in this tournament as he normally is for England, although he has been a little better here.
Substitutes
Kobbie Mainoo (for Gallagher at half-time) – 7
He made a difference at the start, making England much more positive in their game. Much more confident with his touch than Gallagher.
Cole Palmer (for Bukayo Saka in ’71) – 7
He finally showed up in this tournament and a clever pass to Mainoo showed what he can do.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (for Kieran Trippier at 84) – 6
He entered the final minutes at right-back, with Walker moving to left-back.
Anthony Gordon (for Phil Foden in 88) – 6
Like Palmer, first few minutes at Euros, but too late to make an impact.
Reason Two
Declan Rice impressed me. He played like a captain.
He spoke positively before the Slovenia game and I thought for the first 20 to 25 minutes he was really excellent.
He didn’t do everything right, he went through some difficult moments. But he really looks like a class act.
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And he is leading by example and I have no doubt he will do the same on Sunday.
Reason Three
That brings me to number three and that’s Rice’s partner next for him.
It won’t be Trent Alexander-Arnold. And it won’t be Conor Gallagher. But Kobbie Mainoo got into 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 will do better, but it was still an excellent performance from him and he will be a great player in the future. next Few years.
I wasn’t sure if he was quite ready to be thrown in at the deep end, but I thought he did well against Slovenia and I’m sure he’ll keep his place.
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Reason Four
This brings us to Cole Palmer again. He got more than 20 minutes against Slovenia and looked really ready to win the Euros.
There’s still a lot more to come from him, but I thought it was the right decision to sign him.
And I would start him now on Sunday because I feel that Bukayo Saka, as excellent a player as he is, still doesn’t look 100 percent.
So I would put Palmer to Bukayo Saka.
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Reason Five
This brings us to Harry Kane.
There has been a lot of criticism of the captain in recent days, but I think it would be absolutely ridiculous to put him on the bench.
And there is absolutely no chance of that happening, even if some fans demand it.
Just look at his international record to justify his place in the starting eleven. He’s only scored once so far, he could have scored one or two more.
But the most important thing for me is that I thought he was better against Slovenia. His movement was better.
And I think if you look at Kane’s performance over the years when he’s had an injury, it normally takes him a few weeks, even if he’s only out for a few weeks, he normally takes three or four weeks to get back to normal. better.
So I’m sure he’ll be back to his best. He needs to get back to his best on Sunday.
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And finally,
Just a message to the England fans. There was concern about how they behaved here.
I think they have performed very well in the last few tournaments England have been abroad.
But, of course, you cannot hide the fact that some of them acted disgracefully at Wembley three years ago, despite the fact that most, if any, of them were not genuine English fans.
And although there were problems in Marseille, at Euro 2016 those who came to Germany had fun.
There were some idiots singing about German bombers, but certainly before the game in Cologne there was what, over 10,000 fans, was not a single incident, let alone an arrest.
And I know that’s what you should expect from all football fans. But that hasn’t been the case over the years.
But I think the demographics have changed a bit with England fans and they’re not coming out to fight with the police and security – famous last words.
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Hopefully that’s not the case. We hope they enjoy their return to Gelsenkirchen.
But most important of all, let’s hope they see a much better performance from England and that everyone can prepare for the quarter-finals in Dusseldorf.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
