England 0-0 Slovenia: Southgate’s men underwhelm again despite topping Group C

England have finished top of Group C at Euro 2024 despite playing out a drab 0-0 draw with Slovenia at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne on Tuesday night.

It was another evening of frustration for England, who followed up an abysmal display against Denmark with a performance that has failed to fill the Three Lions faithful with much confidence heading into the knockout rounds.

Nevertheless, five points collected from three matches is enough for Gareth Southgate‘s side to finish top of the group and sneak into the last 16, crucially avoiding a side of the draw loaded with Euro 2024 hosts Germany, Spain, France and Portugal.

While the Three Lions go through as group winners, Denmark have secured second place following goalless stalemate with Serbia, who have been eliminated from Euro 2024.

Denmark have finished just above Slovenia in third by the finest of margins; indeed, both nations finished level on points, with the same goal difference, goals scored and disciplinary record (6-6 on yellow cards), but the Danes advance in second as they had the best qualifying record.

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Southgate still searching for solutions

Three Lions supporters were seeking a response from Southgate’s men following a disappointing 1-1 draw with Denmark on matchday two, but they ultimately carried on from where they left off versus the Danes five days ago.

England made a nervy start to the contest and were sloppy in possession when playing out from the back. It was all so pedestrian, particularly in the first 45 minutes, with too many passes going nowhere, largely due to a frustrating lack of movement in the final third.

One of the key issues for Southgate is in midfield; Conor Gallagher was brought into the starting lineup for Trent Alexander-Arnold – Southgate’s sole change from the draw with Denmark – but the Chelsea man failed to justify his selection and was replaced at half time.

Manchester United starlet Kobbie Mainoo was brought on as Gallagher’s replacement and the teenager made a positive introduction, providing a much-needed link between midfield and attack and showed great composure when in possession for someone so young with only four caps to his name.

Mainoo has become the third different midfield partner for lynchpin Declan Rice across three games at Euro 2024, and following three unconvincing collective displays from England, Southgate must quickly work out how he intends to shape his midfield ahead of their last-16 clash.

Going forward, Phil Foden was a bright spark for England and was their main creative outlet, particularly from set-pieces. The Three Lions were crying out for more technical players, though, with both Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon brought on too late in the game to make a real impact.

Southgate’s men were defensively solid and restricted Slovenia to just four attempts on goal – including one shot on target – but Southgate must find a way to get the plethora of attacking talent at his disposal to ignite heading into the last 16.

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Slovenia make history with England draw

While England were left scratching their heads at full time, Slovenia were jumping for joy as they celebrated reaching the knockout rounds of a major tournament for the first time in their history.

Matjaz Kek‘s side may not have posed the desired threat going forward, but they deserve all the plaudits that come their way for frustrating England with a well-organised and disciplined defensive display.

Slovenia’s shape out of possession was faultless; they deployed a 4-4-2 low block and made it difficult for the Three Lions to break through the line and pose any real danger to Jan Oblak‘s goal.

Foden’s 25-yard free kick towards the end of the first half and a tame second-half stoppage-time strike from Palmer – following a brilliant link-up between Gordon, Mainoo and Harry Kane – were the only real attempts on goal from England that Oblak required to be on his toes for.

Slovenia looked confident and composed throughout the contest and have made themselves difficult to beat for some time, drawing all three Group C matches at Euro 2024 and losing just one of their last 14 internationals in all competitions.

Adam Gnezda Čerin 🇸🇮👏@Vivo_GLOBAL | #EUROPOTM pic.twitter.com/D1eSbQkhIo

— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 25, 2024

Slovenia’s entire backline deserves a special mention for keeping England quiet, but midfielder Adam Gnezda Cerin played an important role just in front of the back four and worked tirelessly to close down the spaces and bark orders at his teammates around him to maintain their organised structure.

What next for England and Slovenia?

After securing top spot in Group C, England will play their last-16 tie in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday against a third-placed team, and as things stand, their opponents are set to be the Netherlands, who lost 3-2 to Austria earlier in the day to slip to third in Group D.

As for Slovenia, they are currently set to face the winners of Group E on July 2, and that could be one of four teams as they are all on three points heading into matchday three on Wednesday.

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