Reassure yourself, silence the critics and launch – finally – its Euro: arriving in Germany as a favorite, England, disappointing until then, has a triple mission to fulfill against Slovenia on Tuesday (9:00 p.m.) during of the last day of group C.
Things move quickly in football. The cliché is particularly true for Jude Bellingham’s “Three Lions”, praised by the country’s press when it arrived in Germany but which, two weeks later, was the subject of the most harsh criticism.
Since their arrival in Germany, Bellingham’s partners have ingloriously beaten Serbia and have failed to overcome Denmark, conceding a logical draw (1-1). Their qualification is not in question – they could be as of Monday without playing – but their game actually leaves something to be desired.
Main target of the attacks, Gareth Southgate, the coach, guilty, according to the English newspapers, of not being able to play together correctly all the jewels at his disposal. And in particular his three offensive pearls Bellingham, Harry Kane and Phil Foden who, as they are used by Southgate, step on each other and threaten England to trip over themselves.
“Try to improve”
Southgate has placed Bellingham in a playmaking position that the candidate for the next Ballon d’Or rarely occupies at Real Madrid. But in the selection this positioning bothers Kane, who likes nothing more than to get his balls low enough. He also plays Foden on the sides, ghostly after being voted best player in the Premier League with Manchester City, where he was more central.
Faced with the rebellious wind against the selection, Kane took out the umbrella. Arriving at a press conference on Sunday, he took part in a game of darts in which the journalists had joined in while waiting for him. Basically, he called for calm: “I don’t think we played well against Denmark. We have been below what we know how to do“, he admitted. But “we’ve been there before“, he added. “We have a lot of experience… It’s time to try to improve“.
Slovenia, England’s last opponent in Group C on Tuesday in Cologne, currently second in the group, seems perfect to make the adjustments called for by Kane. But, while the English can already plan for the 8th, Southgate could decide to preserve his managers on Tuesday.
ats/efas
