What changes might England make for their clash with Denmark?

06/18/2024 01:00 AM

After a solid performance and victory over Serbia on Sunday, could Gareth Southgate utilise his wider squad for Thursday's game in Frankfurt?

Derek Carter says…

When it comes to team selection, I'd probably start with the same eleven because we were well on top in the first half against Serbia and looked very confident. However, Denmark will offer a more skill-based challenge than the physical Serbs so Gareth Southgate needs to make a tactical change.

On Sunday, everything went down the right hand side and Serbia nullified that in the second half knowing that we offered nothing on the left, so that needs to be rectified.

It pains me to say it, but if we do make a change, maybe Anthony Gordon should play in front of Kieran Trippier with Trent Alexander-Arnold dropping to the bench. That would mean a midfield four of Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Gordon, with Phil Foden being allowed more of the freedom he enjoys with Manchester City.

Hopefully Harry Kane will be able to make more of an impact on this match but if he doesn't, we have Eberechi Eze on the bench and he could prove to be the surprise package of the tournament if he's given the chance.

The Danes will give us a good game but I'd go for a 2-1 win for us.

Ewan Bowman says…

I think the biggest issue is the balance of the team, particularly on the left hand side.

As a right-footed left back, Kieran Trippier doesn't offer width and Phil Foden isn't a natural left winger, so the vast majority of our attacks against Serbia were coming down the right hand side.

I think Anthony Gordon should start on the left wing.

That could be in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold, with Jude Bellingham pushing slightly deeper and allowing Foden to play in the number ten position.

Alternatively, he could replace Foden, which would certainly raise some eyebrows.

The big question concerns Luke Shaw's fitness, as he's another player who would give us some width. If he starts the game and lasts for sixty minutes to regain some match fitness, I think that would be a good move, but getting him back fit is crucial.

It'll be an interesting team selection on Thursday.

Malc Dugdale says…

I'd agree with Derek in the main.

We need to learn from these group games whilst also ensuring we progress, and you could say that if we repeated the first half on Sunday and won 2-0 or 3-0, everyone would be really up for this.

However, the second half against Serbia killed off a bit of that potential optimism, but it was a clean sheet and a win so we take it and move on.

Although Harry Kane was unlucky not to score from a header after a wonder save from the Serbia goalkeeper, he was rarely involved.

We can and should get more from such a prolific frontman, and if it isn't working out in the group games- either due to his own efforts or because of how we're feeding him- maybe we should provide some game time for others.

These games need to be used to help us work out our best team and we probably only need one more point to get through, so maybe vary it in midfield and attack and see what works, if we get a chance to do so.

In midfield, we'll need to be on point to manage the increased technical ability of the Danes.

If we give them possession like we gave it to Serbia in the second period, they're more likely to open us up, so possession needs to be controlled better than it was after the break on Sunday.

In general, it would be to see us play like we can, so can we not focus on our abilities rather than focus on what they can do?

We have a team of superstars, so why not play the best way for us and make them worry about us, rather than the other way round?

Phil Foden needs to get more central, and I'd love to see more of Kobbie Mainoo and Eberechi Eze, so I say 'let's set up to play our best football, get another win or draw and then experiment a bit more with any remaining time we have at this stage'.

You win nothing by being perfect right now, but if we can build our performances and keep winning even when it's a bit ugly, who knows where we may get to?