Conor Gallagher has insisted England have more to offer following an underwhelming start to their Euro 2024 campaign.
England beat Serbia in their opening game, but then really struggled with a poor showing against Denmark as they were held to a 1-1 draw.
The Three Lions will have to wait for their final game against Slovenia on Tuesday to secure their qualification for the knockout stages.
Gallagher: There’s more to come from England
Gallagher, who is at his second major tournament has come off the bench to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold in both games and could be in line for a start on Tuesday night.
The 24-year-old could be England’s answer as they look to solve their problem of who to play alongside Declan Rice.
Despite England’s poor showing against the Danes, Gallagher’s energy and pressing did help the Three Lions, who were getting overrun in the middle of the park, with Christian Eriksen dominating proceedings.
However, Gallagher insists there is more to come from England and that the squad need to step up their game for the rest of the tournament.
“We know we can do a lot better,” he told ITV Sport.
“There’s levels we can get to and we’re not quite there at the minute.
“But the sign of a good team is getting the points and results when you’re not playing well and that has been the case for us the last couple of games.
“We’ve got to give credit to Denmark, they had a good game and made it tough for us.
“They’re a good side, but we need to look at ourselves and where we can improve.
“We know how good we can be, so it’s just about getting to that level.”
England are one of the favourites for the tournament but Gareth Southgate will need to find solutions with his side looking hugely underwhelming in the first two games considering the talent on display.
At least one commentator referred to Gallagher’s performance (not inaccurately) as “a chicken with its head cut off.” It’s all well and good that he gives you 110% energy every time he enters the game, but what England have been sorely lacking is poise and creativity in the midfield. Southgate is largely to blame with his lousy tactics and team selection (e.g., his insistence on forcing TAA into the midfield and his refusal to give Palmer even 10 minutes to prove his worth), but it’s also been the case that the players (Gallagher included) have been really poor at solving problems in-game.
After conceding possession and sitting back in the 1st half, Serbia came out and pressed them in the 2nd and England looked totally flummoxed for 45 minutes on how to build out! You can blame the manager for not installing a pattern of play that everyone understands, but the players have to show some ingenuity when the opponent makes a tactical switch and the England midfield have generally looked poor for most of the last 135 minutes thanks to the fact that Rice is being made to play too deep (as more of 6 than an 8, where he shined for Arsenal) and TAA and Gallagher (the two paired alongside of him) lack the craft and creativity to do what Rice cannot. It’s all resulted in some head-scratchingly stultifying football from a squad that was supposed to be primed to challenge France for the trophy.
Something needs to change. My suggestion would be to do what Poch did with Cucurella. Start Gallagher with Rice in midfield, but shift TAA to leftback where he plays “inverted” in possession, joining the midfield alongside Gallagher, allowing Rice move higher alongside Bellingham (or Palmer?) to create a “box” in the center of the park. This would better allow Kane to stay high and the wingers to stay wide keeping the opponent’s back four pinned deep and giving the Rice and Bellingham (or Palmer) room to run the show. It certainly can’t be any worse than what we’ve seen so far!