Euro 2024: Gareth Southgate and Harry Kane admit 'There's a huge amount of work' to do after England's draw with Denmark

Gareth Southgate has said "there's a huge amount of work" for his England side to do after drawing 1-1 with Denmark in their second group game at Euro 2024 on Thursday.

England, while top of the group after two games, looked flat and lethargic and seemed overwhelmed by the Danes at times.

The England boss did not hold his tongue after the game and admitted his side are facing technical and tactical issues that contributed to their suffering, and that he and his staff have plenty to work on.

"Clearly not what we would have hoped [for]," the 53-year-old said.

Southgate continued: "At the moment we’re not using the ball well enough and we have to accept if you do that, you’re going to suffer at times as we have tonight. We know there’s another level that we’ve got to find.

"There's a huge amount of work.

"That's evident from the two performances we've given and we've got to be tight. We understand people will be disappointed with the performances and rightly so and we've got to make them better."

One issue was that England's defence consistently dropped deep, inviting Denmark pressure. Morten Hjulmand's wonder-strike emerged when the midfielder was gifted time and space on the ball by England's back line.

Southgate was asked if the defence dropping deep was an idea of his.

"No," he replied. "We’ve played teams that are quite fluid in back threes and it’s not easy to get pressure on them but we’ve definitely got to do better than we have done in these two matches.

"That’s been part of the problem, but not keeping the ball has also been a big part of the problem.

"We know people will be disappointed with our performances. At the moment we are not pressing with the intensity that we need to and that's meaning we are having to sit a bit deeper."

England captain Harry Kane also admitted that the side dropping deep was an issue that needed fixing.

"I think it's something we've got to get better at," the striker said. "I think we're starting games well but when the teams are dropping deeper we're not quite sure how to get the pressure on and who's going.

"In the second half we tried to change a little bit but it was difficult.

"Credit to Denmark, they caused us some threats. Overall we've got to look back and see where we can improve."

Kane added that England's players, including himself, are "dropping below their levels."

"I think we're struggling both with and without the ball," he said.

"I think the pressure in both games hasn't been right and with the ball hasn't been good enough. Everyone's dropping below their levels a little bit. It was tough out there, but we're calm. It wasn't our greatest game but we got away with a point."

Southgate attempted to wrestle control from the Danes by introducing fresh faces in the second half. A triple change of Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane being replaced by Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze and Ollie Watkins was preceded by Trent Alexander-Arnold leaving the pitch for Conor Gallagher.

The Liverpool player was positioned in midfield again before being hooked shortly after half-time and failed to deliver the impact Southgate hoped he would.

"He’s had some moments where he’s delivered what we thought he would," Southgate said of Alexander-Arnold.

"We know it is an experiment and we know that we don’t have a natural replacement for a Kalvin Phillips. But we’re trying some different things and at the moment we’re not flowing as we’d like, that’s for sure."

Despite not having a spectacular game even if he did find the net, Southgate raised some eyebrows by taking off record goalscorer Kane before 70 minutes.
In explaining that decision, Southgate said: "We needed energy. We’ve had two games in a short turnaround.

"We needed fresh legs, we needed energy to press at that stage of the game. I think Harry’s only had the one 90 minutes in over a month so that was the decision we took."

England vice-captain Kyle Walker was practical in his response after the game, taking the point while accepting the side have much to improve on.

"We take away the point and we are top of the group - I cannot stand here saying it was a fantastic performance," the defender said.
"Collectively we need to know when to go or when not to go. We have to go as a full team and that is something we need to practice because you come to the knockout stages and slight things like that can cost you.
"Our build-up play can be better. And making sure the second ball is our ball.
"Each individual player is representing their country so they are going to give their blood, sweat and tears and we are doing the exact same."

England sit top of Group C unbeaten and with four points. Despite the draw against Denmark, they look set to qualify.

They face Slovenia in their final group game on Tuesday, June 25.

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