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    England's lacklustre game against Denmark leaves fans, pundits baffled
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    England’s lacklustre game against Denmark leaves fans, pundits baffled

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    1. DarkSoul69prettyboy on

      Why is anyone baffled?

      These are the criticisms that Southgate has faced for the last 5+ years and just what everyone predicted would happen.

      The fact he played Trent in midfield and then had Foden inverting and Kane dropping back, both into the same space as Bellingham , leaving Saka as the only runner, just shows how poor Southgate is at getting the best out of his team

    2. PurahsHero on

      Not really. England underperforming like this has been a constant since, well, forever.

    3. SteveRobertSkywalker on

      England’s bad performance is no surprise. What was/is a surprise is that England were/are one of the favourites for the tournament,. Now that is baffling.

    4. Adam_Gill_1965 on

      The problem with England is that they always expect just to walk it in…

    5. gophercuresself on

      What confuses me is how obvious the issues seem to anyone watching. I don’t know anything about who should play where but any time you see England players receive the ball, stop it, look around, take a touch, look around, play the ball over and over you just know they aren’t going to be able to play their way through anything. Where’s the movement, the flow, the anticipation? It just seems like such a basic issue for professionals.

      I have a theory that as a country we’re particularly bad at playing in humid conditions and apparently it was super muggy under the closed roof. You’d like to think that at their level of fitness they should just power through it but if you’re not used to playing in those conditions I’m sure it can really affect you mentally and physically.

    6. StarSchemer on

      I don’t know why anyone’s baffled, especially fans and pundits, who’s job it is to watch this shite.

      Are we still calling them this “young England team?” Plucky but bunch of lads with great “togetherness”?

      Every tournament in the Southgate era England seem to limp through relatively easy fixtures putting in poor performances.

      As a neutral non-England fan, this one is no different. They’ll likely make it to the semis, come across their first decent side and lose, and then everyone will be praising how plucky and brave they have been.

    7. JosiesSon77 on

      Bugger me it’s the same at every tournament.

      England one of the favourites, which they are always going to be anyway due to lots of people betting on them, and then we play like dogshit.

      It always cracks me up, every 2 years “yeah England have got this one”, the reality is “have they bollocks”,

    9. J1M-1 on

      I am going to say I was baffled

      Not because of the tactics, but more from the individual players making basic passing errors and otherwise quality attacking players not being able to or having the confidence to dribble past someone

    10. Rustwhiskers on

      Why? They aren’t a good team and they aren’t managed well. People are delusional

    12. Gibbo777 on

      Admittedly we were poor, but I don’t think we need to panic just yet. While the tactics clearly weren’t working, a lot of the players were uncharacteristically misplacing simple passes. Not to mention everyone seems to be forgetting that Denmark are really not a bad team at all.

      We’re effectively through to the next round and hopefully Trent getting substituted as early as he did suggests that we’re done with the right back in midfield experiment. Ideally Wharton or Mainoo will play but more realistically it’ll be Gallagher. Desperately need Luke Shaw fit to fill the gap on our left side and we should have a more balanced attack.

      Win against Slovenia and we should get a beatable opponent in the last 16. Then we’ll get our revenge on the Italians, fluke it against the French and batter the Germans in their own backyard. It’s coming home 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

    13. skanderbeg_alpha on

      Only baffled if you are deluded enough to think that the whole England set up isn’t a debacle.

      Firstly, the manager doesn’t know football tactics or how systems work.

      Secondly the players are good but are usually surrounded at club level by very good foreign players and coaches who actually understand the game.

      Thirdly, the fanbase is deluded with their “it’s coming home” nonsense that sets them up for disappointment every time, thinking they have a devine right to win football matches.

      Last but certainly not least the media are toxic as hell. Ex players who choked themselves and or failed as managers (Shearer, Ferdinand, Neville etc.) Or ones that simply weren’t good enough for England (Richards, Wright) somehow are “experts” on why things go wrong.

    14. Royal-Condition2779 on

      I believe the real question should be how this Danish side managed to secure only one point instead of all three against a mediocre team like England.

    15. OptimusSpud on

      As a welshman watching the commentary (I have no real interest in football), how is this a surprise to anyone?

      Every single tournament, whether it’s rugby or football England almost always go in as either outright favourites or “they can beat anyone on their day”. And theY always fail to perform.

      The press do not help matters, but dear me, can we not just accept that they aren’t as good as the hype suggests. Or IF they are _that good_, they just don’t gel well.

    16. Laxly on

      I’m not going to defend Southgate here, I don’t hate him, but it does feel like it’s run its course now.

      However, who are we going to replace him with? Dyche? Howe*? O’Neil? Potter?

      We have world class players, yet our managers seem to be lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of tactical ability.

      Before anybody says “premier league clubs only go for foreigners”, well which English managers are banging on the door demanding a top six club? How many of them say “sod it, I’ll go abroad, get some experience and see what happens”? Will Still, though her never was in England, anybody else?

      The only way an Englishman gets a big job isn’t due to their performance as a manager, but their performance as a player.

    17. BelgianBond on

      People are nonplussed about the form of a team of elite players who play in an era of fixture congestion. It hasn’t occurred to them that possibly some of the players are jaded, carrying some injuries, and a bit emotionally drained. 

    18. Ju5hin on

      What makes me laugh is the majority of pundits (and quite a lot of fans) were calling for Southgate to start Trent in midfield…

      Then when he does, those same pundits (and fans) are criticising him for it because it hasn’t worked.

      Pundits are too busy trying to make the show about them rather than just analysing the game and giving an informed opinion.

      Cesc blew every single one of them away on his appearances. Insightful, professional, on point… Not looking to go viral for his daft opinion or language used.