England were held to a 1-1 draw with Denmark in their Euro 2024 group match with problems for Gareth Southgate to address. Harry Kane gave the Three Lions the perfect start after 18 minutes, finishing smartly in the six yard area. But the familiar concerns emerged shortly after with the Danes deservedly level through Morten Hjulmand’s stunning strike 10 minutes before the half-time whistle.
England are still on course to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition but missed the chance to do it as group winners tonight. Slovenia await in their final group game next Tuesday but a very alarming performance will give Southgate plenty to think about. England fans will still be haunted by memories of Croatia in 2018 and how it happened again against Italy 2021.
The signs were there again in the narrow win over Serbia on Sunday and against the Danes, it was at its infuriating worst. The trend of meekly surrendering control after scoring the opening goal continued in rotten fashion on Thursday and while Morten Hjulmand’s majestic strike was something special, it had been coming from the moments the Danes kicked off again after Kane’s opener. England were so deep at one point in the first half, Kane’s only option was to try and bulldoze his way up field 70 yards out from goal, quickly swarmed and snuffed out.
No runners and no movement undermined anything and everything England tried to muster. Even sitting deep, England’s carelessness with the ball was staggering. D.