England captain Harry Kane admits that his side are not currently sure how to press in the right way following Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Denmark.
England captain Harry Kane conceded that the Three Lions are not currently sure how to press in the right way following Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Denmark at Euro 2024.
Gareth Southgate‘s side were heading for the last-16 stage of the European Championship when Kane sent his team ahead in the 18th minute of the contest in Frankfurt.
However, Denmark answered back courtesy of a long-range strike from Morten Hjulmand in the 34th minute, and the points were ultimately shared in the Group C fixture.
England remain on course to reach the knockout round of Euro 2024, but their performance against Denmark has drawn heavily criticism.
Kane, who was substituted for Ollie Watkins for the final 20 minutes, said after the clash that his side are ‘unsure how to get the pressure on’ when teams drop deep against them.
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“It’s something we’ve got to try to get better at, not just when we score,” Kane told BBC Sport. “We’re starting games well, but when the opponents are dropping a few players deeper we’re not quite sure how to get the pressure on and who’s supposed to be going.
“In the second half we tried to change it with me and Jude [Bellingham] playing in front of their two midfielders and trying to get up – but it was difficult.
“Credit to Denmark, they’re a good side and got to the semi-finals in the last Euros. Overall, we’ve got to look back and see where we can improve.
“We’re struggling with and without the ball. We’ll have to go away and look at it back, but the pressure hasn’t been quite right in both games, and we haven’t been good enough with the ball top to bottom, that’s me all the way back to [Jordan] Pickford.
“We’re dropping below our level in terms of retaining the ball and playing under pressure. We know we can improve. There’ll be a lot of noise, a bit of disappointment back home, but we experienced this when we drew to Scotland in the last Euros. The sign of a good team is to find results when you’re not playing your best.”
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Walker urges England to remain calm
Meanwhile, another of England’s senior players has called for calm, with Kyle Walker insisting that the team remain in a strong position at the European Championship.
“It’s tournament football, this is a good Denmark team, we are top of the group so let’s try and take the positive from this game,” Walker told BBC Sport.
“We’ve not lost, we have conceded a great strike from outside the box. Sometimes you have to take your hat off to good goals. I thought we set up really well as we did the other day but we haven’t managed to see the game out. But we are top of the group so let’s move on to the next game.
“We know we’ve got another gear but we haven’t lost a game. Everyone wants us to come and steamroll teams 3-0 or 4-0, but that’s not football these days. We’ve got a point, we’re top of the group, we’ll move on.”
England will finish their Group C campaign against Slovenia on Tuesday, while Denmark will tackle Serbia on the same night, with all four teams still capable of advancing to the round of 16.
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