If Gareth Southgate and his England squad weren’t already feeling the pressure at Euro 2024, they certainly must be now.
England have topped their group, are still to lose a game and have seen the draw open up for them after results elsewhere, and yet little of that seems to matter in the aftermath of another limp display, this time drawing 0-0 with Slovenia.
Perhaps more concerning than the manner of performances in England’s last two games is the fact that Southgate’s England have now won just twice in their last eight games, a run that stretches back to a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia in November last year.
Now, faced with a five-day break until their last-16 encounter, Southgate has some much-needed time to mull over some immediate remedies to his disjointed squad. Here’s where he could start…
Roll the dice again in central midfield
Starting Conor Gallagher on Tuesday night felt like the final nail in the coffin for the Trent Alexander-Arnold ‘experiment’.
And yet, the Chelsea midfielder’s subsequent withdrawal at half-time suggested that Southgate is still wrangling with the puzzle of how to jumpstart England’s midfield.
Gallagher’s non-stop energy and all-action qualities could have been the springboard for a more energetic England display, but the 24-year-old was surprisingly subdued and had just 24 touches of the ball before the break.
His replacement, Kobbie Mainoo, offered an immediate spark of impetus into England’s midfield, taking up more advanced positions and seeking to get on the ball with regularity.
The display may well warrant a start in England’s last-16 tie but, perhaps, Southgate could be wise to look at his other, final option: Adam Wharton.
The Crystal Palace midfielder is perhaps the squad’s only natural tempo-setter in midfielder and could be parachuted into the starting XI to provide some much-needed guile and help set the pace of play.
The move could also allow Declan Rice to take off the handbrake that has inhibited him so far this tournament and maraud forward into the kind of positions Arsenal fans saw him thrive in at the end of last season.
Both Mainoo and Wharton come with some risk – they have just two England starts between them, after all – but Southgate may have been left with little other choice.
Start Cole Palmer
It was at this tournament three years ago that Bukayo Saka first announced himself on the international scene.
The Arsenal star enjoyed a breakthrough tournament, virtually becoming one of the first names on the teamsheet as England went all the way to the final at Wembley.
Now, though, after another disappointing display in England’s front three, the calls for him to be replaced will only intensify. That is, in large part, down to the impressive cameo of Cole Palmer, who came on to replace him in the 70th minute.
Palmer enjoyed a breakthrough season of his own before this tournament, notching up 22 goals and 11 assists for Chelsea in his maiden league campaign at Stamford Bridge.
And while the 22-year-old did not find the elusive winner off the bench, his first minutes of the tournament against Slovenia must surely justify an inclusion from the start. Direct with the ball and keen to just simply run at the opposition’s defence, it was a small reprieve on a night that offered little positive.
Southgate has not been one to move away from his trusted core, but starting Palmer feels like a logical – and necessary – change if England are to rediscover an ounce of attacking thrust.
Don’t bay to the shoehorning mob
In the post-match furore after Tuesday’s draw, solutions were aplenty.
Ian Wright questioned whether Saka should start at left-back, while Gary Neville pondered why England where the only team that could not fit all their best players in their starting XI.
Overreaction is expected, perhaps even warranted, after such a display, but Southgate would be wise to pay little attention to such outside voices.
Starting Saka at full-back, a position he has barely played since first breaking into the Arsenal first-team in 2019, feels a risk too far ahead of crunch knockout games.
And the additional suggestion that no other international team struggles to start all their best players couldn’t be further from the truth.
Diogo Jota and Joao Palhinha have played just 74 minutes combined for Portugal; Youri Tielemans and Leandro Trossard have both been benched for Belgium; Leroy Sane is still yet to start a game for Germany.
England have been far from perfect, that much everyone can see, but rewriting the script entirely midway through a tournament would do more harm than good and would be out of kilter with the calm and measured approach that has typified Southgate’s stewardship of the national team up to this point.
How could England line up for their last-16 tie?
Palmer coming in for Saka feels like an obvious first step given his brief cameo but wholesale changes should not be the way Southgate sways.
Mainoo may well get the nod to partner Rice in midfield, but Wharton’s calmness and intent at the base of midfield could be the calculated risk that not only allows Rice to move further forward but also unlocks England’s attacking quartet beyond the midfield two.
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