Gareth Southgate speaks with Harry Kane as he comes off during the UEFA Euro 2024 Group C football match between Denmark and England at the Frankfurt Arena. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty ImagesThe mood in the England camp was heavy on introspection and soul-searching as they came to terms with Thursday’s 1-1 draw against Denmark. It was not so much the result, which has kept them in the driving seat to qualify for the last 16 as Group C winners.
Kane did not press or run in behind against Denmark and Southgate took him off in the 70th minute for Ollie Watkins, feeling that he needed fresh energy up front.were substituted at the same time. Saka missed Arsenal’s final Premier League game with an injury and played only 25 minutes of England’s warm-up matches.Three-goal Austria leave Poland’s tournament hopes hang by a thread“We are not pressing well enough, with enough intensity,” Southgate said.
The pressure on the players is intense, the scrutiny unforgiving and it has been possible to wonder whether it has affected them. Southgate admitted after the Denmark game that “if anything they’re showing they care too much”. “Sometimes I maybe feel like we put too much pressure on ourselves where we could just go out there and let it just take care of itself. But, look – two games, one win, one draw. And now we go into that last game . Our objective is always to qualify and I’m sure we can still do that.”