EURO 2024: Terrible England cannot even win against Slovenia

When former England striker Gary Lineker described England’s game as ‘s**t’, there was a lot of fuss in the media. And that was after a 1-1 draw with Denmark. But after tonight’s 0-0 draw with Slovenia, maybe that description is not bad at all. After three group games in this EURO, England, as one of the favourites to win the tournament, has clearly regressed. First, it was a slim 1-0 win over bad Serbia, then a 1-1 draw with tough Denmark and tonight a pale 0-0 with Slovenia. So far, it seems that Group C is the weakest and worst in EURO. Coach Gareth Southgate should be really worried as his team plays badly, looks bad and is facing the third-best team, which should be the Netherlands.

If Southgate and Kane asked the England public to be less critical, tonight’s display will only add more criticism. All those star players like Foden, Bellingham, Kane and Saka were invisible and looked without any creativity and strength. The first half was pretty boring, with no real chances. England did manage three shots on target, but the only half-chance worth remembering was the on in which both Gallagher and Kane missed Trippier’s cross, which went off the pitch. Those shots on target were Kane’s long (and weak) shot and Foden’s excellent free kick, but from 30 meters. Jan Oblak is too good to concede from such distances. Despite a flat first-half performance, coach Gareth Southgate thought that only Gallagher’s performance was bad and introduced Kobbie Mainoo. Next to go out was invisible Saka who was replaced with Cole Palmer, but the young Chelsea star couldn’t do anything either. If this game was played for another 90 minutes, England wouldn't score, that was the impression.

In the other third-round match in Group C, Serbia and Denmark drew 0-0. Ahead of this clash, the Serbians needed a win. A draw could've also guaranteed them advancement from the group, but they would've depended on other results. Namely, England had to beat Slovenia by two goals, and since that didn't happen, only the triumph over Denmark could've secured a round of 16 for the Eagles.

The goalless draw itself indicated that the game wasn't interesting. Serbian manager Dragan Stojkovic opted for offensive tactics, but his players simply couldn't cope with the Danes' defensive solid block. On the other hand, Denmark played quite smart and used every chance for possible counterattacks. Subsequently, Denmark had ten attempts (three on target), whereas Serbia had only three (none on target). In the last 20 minutes, Serbia's boss had all his forwards - Mitrovic, Vlahovic, and Jovic - on the pitch as well as the captain, Dusan Tadic, but everything was in vain. In the end, Serbia finished its second major tournament in a row in last place in the group, while Denmark and Slovenia both secured round of 16 with three points each.

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP - GROUP STAGE

Tuesday

Netherlands - Austria 2-3 (0-1)

/Gakpo 47, Depay 75 - Malen 6 (og), Schmid 59, Sabitzer 80/

France - Poland 1-1 (0-0)

/Mbappe (p) 56 - Lewandowski 79(p)/

England - Slovenia 0-0

Denmark - Serbia 0-0

Wednesday

19.00: (3.30) Slovakia (2.05) Romania (3.85)

19.00: (5.60) Ukraine (3.90) Belgium (1.70)

22.00: (7.80) Georgia (5.20) Portugal (1.43)

22.00: (2.65) Czech R. (3.40) Turkey (2.80

***odds are subject to change***