England stuttering in attack

England drew 0-0 with Slovenia last night in another underwhelming Euro 2024 performance.

The result was a reflection of England’s struggles in the group stage as a whole.

While their defence has stood strong, conceding just once in three games, they have also scored only two goals in that same period.

Still, the Three Lions finished top of Group C with five points.

Gareth Southgate still searching for his strongest XI

The England manager made just one change for yesterday’s game, starting Conor Gallagher in midfield in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Gallagher proved ineffective, and he was replaced at the break by Kobbie Mainoo.

Mainoo, who looked far more influential, has made a case to start in the Round of 16 come Sunday.

The same can be said for Cole Palmer, who made his majour tournament debut upon replacing Bukayo Saka in the 71st minute.

He provided a spark in an otherwise flat England side, linking up well with Mainoo.

In the end though, the group winners generated only one big chance against Slovenia.

For the wealth of talent they have, that is no where near productive enough.

A conundrum with the clock ticking

After three tournament matches, a team should have a clear sense of what their strongest side is.

If anything though, Southgate is now further from knowing than he was at the start of the tournament.

Phil Foden continued to be anonymous on the left, and Harry Kane was abysmal.

Bukayo Saka too has been underwhelming by his own high standards.

Mainoo and Palmer, meanwhile, stepped up when called upon.

In the middle of writing this article, it was reported that Phil Foden has left the Euros for family reasons.

Hopefully everything is alright of course, but it is now unclear where this leaves Southgate’s plans.

It’s easy to criticise from the outside looking in, but with the amount of experience that Southgate has at this level, there is no room left for excuses.