Jawad Iqbal

England manager Gareth Southgate has led a charmed life for far too long – eight years and three international tournaments before this one, to be precise. The moment of reckoning is now most definitely upon him. Everything, from the reputation of this supposedly stellar group of players to Southgate’s credibility as a coach, is on the line. It all comes down to how England perform in their final group phase game against Slovenia at the Cologne stadium tonight. It is an encounter that presents opportunity and danger in equal measure. The opportunity is there because the Slovenians are eminently beatable, ideal opponents for an England team low on confidence and looking to put things right quickly.

It is still early days but Euro 2024 in Germany has yet to take off as a tournament. It is hard to say why exactly. It has not been uniformly dull – England’s failings have generated interest aplenty. The opening match between Germany and Scotland was a goal-fest, ending in a 5-1 win for Germany. In fact, there have been some brilliant goals in the tournament so far – Mert Muldur scored a spectacular volley for Turkey against Georgia on Tuesday night. There is a limited number of genuine superstars Great goals can go a long way towards making a tournament look and feel good but far too many of the games so far have been a bit hit and miss. Thursday evening’s clash between Spain and Italy is a case in point.

Tonight’s England game against Denmark at the Frankfurt Arena should be made compulsory viewing for those who blindly insist that this group of players under manager Gareth Southgate are favourites to win the Euros. No one can surely continue to believe such nonsense after yet another utterly toothless and dire display of footballing cluelessness. The match ended as a 1-1 draw but make no mistake: England were a shambles. The team showed all the familiar failings we have come to expect from them playing at major tournaments under Southgate. Brilliant and talented footballers, who regularly excel for their clubs, are reduced to shadows of themselves under Southgate’s tutelage. The team was simply bereft of direction, ambition and leadership.

Football hooliganism made an ugly return to the Euros just hours before England‘s opening Group C match against Serbia. There were violent clashes in the west German city of Gelsenkirchen between rival fans in shameful scenes. Riot police moved in quickly to restore order: a number of arrests were made and investigations are ongoing. The violence made for a tense atmosphere ahead of the game. On the pitch, England made a bright and confident start, moving the ball quickly and dominating possession. The breakthrough came in the 13th minute: a wonderful Bellingham header from a Saka cross. It was a false dawn and things went downhill pretty quickly after the half-hour mark. England took their foot off the gas and allowed Serbia back into the match.

The provisional England squad for the Euros unveiled by manager Gareth Southgate contains one notable omission: Jordan Henderson. That’s a big surprise, not because the midfielder deserves to be on the plane to Germany this summer, but for what it says about the thinking of the normally ultra-loyal Southgate, who is often accused of picking his personal favourites for the squad, regardless of club form. His decision to omit Henderson and some other under-performing England stalwarts sends a strong message to all the players. The England manager had this to say about why he left Henderson out: ‘The determining factor was the injury he picked up in the last camp. He missed five weeks and wasn’t able to get back up to the level of intensity. It was a difficult decision.