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HORSING AROUND
Now is the time to gee, gee up the Three Lions… I’d take the England lads racing but any fun day would do the trick
SunSport's expert pundit ran down the major Euro 2024 talking points
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ENGLAND haven’t been at the races in their two games at Euro 2024 so far.
But if I had my way, that’s exactly where Gareth Southgate and his players would be this weekend.
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The whole squad looks badly in need of a lift and there’s a long five days to fill between the match against Denmark and Tuesday’s game with Slovenia.
So now it’s time for Gareth to start earning his money and raise spirits with some team-building.
It may be a golf day, a meal out or a little day trip somewhere to break things up a bit.
When I was West Ham manager I took my players to Cheltenham races for a day out to take their minds off a relegation scrap they were in.
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We got a coach for them, sorted a box at the course, probably lost a bit of money in most cases!
But everyone had a great time.
Then on the way back to London we stopped at an Italian restaurant for a bit of grub.
It was a top day and did exactly what we hoped — because after that we went on a good run and stayed up.
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It probably wasn’t possible to get the whole squad back home for a day at Ascot on Friday or Saturday — but something like that would have been ideal.
Gareth has to do something to get them all pulling together again and free their minds.
Poch in England frame
The players will know the fans aren’t happy — in these days of social media you can’t avoid some of the things that are being said.
And a lot of it has been bad. You can’t dwell on what happened against Denmark.
You have to lighten things up rather than just spending it all out on the training pitch going through drills.
We need the pressure off — we need to go out there and relax.
Confidence is key so you’ve got to remind them how good they really are.
I look at the squad and think there isn’t a team at the tournament who has a group of players like us, but now we’ve got to go out and show what we can do.
When I think about the final group game against Slovenia on Tuesday, there are not many changes I’d make.
There is one though — and that’s in the centre of midfield because it’s clear that the experiment with Trent Alexander-Arnold hasn’t worked out.
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For me it was a strange decision to pick him there — I said that before the first game had even kicked off.
Don’t get me wrong, the lad is a fantastic right-back But how many games has he started in midfield?
People might say he drifts in there from right-back but that’s different. Midfielders have to have a special awareness about you.
They have to know what’s going on all around them and it’s a completely different game to playing right-back.
I’d have to leave Trent out completely because for what we need, he’s not a better option than Kyle Walker at full-back either.
So for me, Phil Foden has to come in from the left and play in behind Harry Kane — the position where he has been so good for Manchester City.
Then alongside Declan Rice, I’d play Jude Bellingham.
People say he should be in that No 10 role but he’s an all-round player — he can do absolutely everything.
ENGLAND vs DENMARK RATINGS
ENGLAND stumbled to a drab 1-1 draw with Denmark.
Here's how SunSport's Tom Barclay rated the Three Lions team.
Jordan Pickford: 6
Looked a little jittery early doors, though there was nothing he could do about Morten Hjulmand’s corker and he made a decent parry after the break.
Kyle Walker: 7
Made England’s opener by racing round a sleeping Victor Kristiansen - he’ll be having nightmares of that forevermore - and teeing up Kane via a deflected cross.
John Stones: 6
OK but you have got to wonder how fit he feels having barely played for Man City in the second half of the season, plus his injury and illness issues over the last month.
Marc Guehi: 8 and my star man
Really encouraging again from the Crystal Palace centre-back, looking sharp with his interceptions and assured in distribution.
Kieran Trippier: 6
Like Stones, he was fine, but England really need Luke Shaw back ASAP because having no natural left-footer at left-back is a problem.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 5
This experiment of playing Trent in midfield is far from convincing, especially when his passing was off it like it was here, barring one good ball to Saka. Subbed on 54 minutes.
Declan Rice: 5
Had to cover so much ground as England dropped worryingly deep in the first half and also lost it a few times in front of his back four.
Bukayo Saka: 7
Not quite as electric as his first half against Serbia, but another solid showing from our right winger who has been our most consistent attacker across the two games.
Jude Bellingham: 6
Nowhere near the majestic display he put in against Serbia and one of many who looked tired.
Phil Foden: 7
Was far more involved than against Serbia - although that was not hard - and had a few dangerous efforts from range, including one that smacked the post after the break.
Harry Kane: 6
Netted his 64th goal for his country with an opener he could not really miss, but then gave the ball away from Denmark’s leveller. Surprisingly subbed.
SUBS:
Conor Gallagher (on for Trent, 54): 7
Vital clearance on the stretch when Christian Eriksen was lurking and was not afraid to put his foot in.
Ollie Watkins (on for Kane, 70): 6
Played in by Bellingham’s lovely ball after coming on but could not finish from an acute angle.
Jarrod Bowen (on for Foden, 69): 6
Copped a nasty tackle which saw Joakim Maehle booked.
Eberechi Eze (on for Saka, 69): 6
On for his tournament bow though he was rarely involved.
That opens up the position on the left and I’d like to see Anthony Gordon there — mainly because of his pace, as that will worry defenders.
Having said that, Cole Palmer must be wondering what he has to do to get a game after the season he’s had at Chelsea so he could play there, too.
We are not in a good place at the moment, that’s for sure.
It isn’t just these two games because Iceland in the friendly before the tournament was a shocker, too.
But I like to think things could start to look very different in the knockout stages.
When those come around, the best teams often come good and start turning in real performances because the pressure is different.
Everyone expects us to beat Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia — and beat them well.
But you come up against the big guns in the latter stages and it can be them feeling the heat.
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One good performance, a couple of goals and it could all turn. There would be a very different mood around the whole nation.
We need to do something quickly though because at the moment it’s all so disappointing.
I’VE taken Sandra out to Dubai for a bit of sunshine so I didn’t see the BBC coverage of England against Denmark.
Out here it’s beIN Sports so it’s Richard Keys and Andy Gray leading the coverage.
But I heard Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer had plenty to say after the game — and good on them.
I’ve done a bit of TV punditry and you have to give your honest opinions and not pull any punches.
Top players get so much praise so they have to be big enough to take it on the chin when the criticism comes their way.
If they’ve been poor, you have to call it out — even if they are players you have worked with or know well.
Big Mus-take
JAMAL MUSIALA is the one that got away for England.
There’s been wonderful talent on show at the Euros so far — but not many have been better than him.
The Germany and Bayern Munich attacker played for the Three Lions right through to Under-21 level and went to school in London, so we must be kicking ourselves for letting him slip through our fingers.
Let’s hope we don’t end up getting the hosts in the last 16 — which is very possible if we don’t win our group.
No doubt Musiala would be keen to show us exactly what we missed.
And what a talent Lamine Yamal looks for Spain, by the way. It’s hard to believe he doesn’t turn 17 until next month.
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Anybody's game
I’VE WATCHED most of the matches — and I think Euro 2024 is wide open.
And despite what we’ve seen so far from England, I still believe it’s there for us to win if we can come to life.
Germany have looked good and France have been OK but I have to say they haven’t blown me away.
Then there’s been the disappointments — you have to include England but others too, including Croatia.
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As for my favourite game so far, I did enjoy Germany’s performance on the opening night — but as I wanted Scotland to win, I can’t say that one.
So I’m going for Turkey against Georgia — a match I wasn’t expecting to enjoy as much as I did but it was probably the game of the tournament so far.
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