Gareth Southgate slams ‘unfit’ England flops after Denmark disappointment
Gareth Southgate has made the stunning claim his England flops are not fit enough to executive his game plans at Euro 2024.
The startling revelation comes in the wake of Thursday’s woeful Euro 2024 draw with Denmark in Frankfurt. England took the lead through Harry Kane, but found themselves pegged back and hanging on for a point in the end. The Three Lions also faded badly in their 1-0 win over Serbia in their opening game of Group C.
Southgate reckons some of his stars are tired from a long and demanding season – and not sharp enough to play the intense pressing game he wants them to.
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Southgate is worried England are incapable of killing teams off and he said: “We are not pressing well enough, with enough intensity. We have limitations in how we can do that, with the physical condition (of the players).
“We can’t press as high up the pitch as we might have done in the qualifiers, for example. And we are not keeping the ball well enough. It is as simple as that. We have to keep the ball better and build with more control.
“Then we will be defending less – and we’ll have more confidence.”
(Image: 2024 Getty Images)
Southgate has a lot of thinking to do ahead of the final group game against Slovenia in Cologne next week. England have gone from tournament favourites to a laughing stock in the space of two underwhelming games.
But Southgate has vowed to come up with the answers and lead his side into the knockout stages. He added: “It’s my responsibility to find better solutions – and it’s my responsibility for the results.
“We have to guide through the difficult period that is coming, but really stay on track and focused on this challenge ahead. We’ll have a look at everything. We felt the right thing to do was to give confidence to the players we picked in the first game. But we’ll look at the performance, look at the next opponent and find the best solutions for the next game.”
