England With Work to do if They are to Win the Euros

21/06/21 1887

There was plenty of positivity following England’s 1-0 win over Croatia in the opening round of matches at the 2021 European Championship.

Croatia reached the final of the 2018 World Cup, having eliminated England at the semi-final stage of the competition, so the win put smiles on faces for many reasons.

However, just as it appeared England were moving in the right direction, they were brought back down to earth via a 0-0 draw against Scotland.

This was a Scottish team who suffered a 2-0 defeat against Czech Republic in their opening fixture. Czech Republic were in England’s qualifying group for the tournament and finished well below England in the group, although they did defeat them when playing in Prague.

The 0-0 draw against Scotland has set alarm bells ringing for England, a team who were made the favourites to win the competition by many onlookers, including some bookmakers before the tournament started.

England lacked ideas in the final third throughout the match and could not find a way to create a good goal scoring opportunity from open play.

It could have been a lot different if John Stones had headed the ball home from a corner early in the match but he managed to hit the post when it seemed easier to score.

Scotland were the team who created the best goal scoring opportunities from open play. They will come away from the fixture pleased to have picked up a point but also with the thought in the back of their mind that 3 points was there for the taking.

One of the major concerns for England ahead of the remainder of the European Championship is the form of Harry Kane. The England captain has been substituted in both group matches and looked lethargic in the game against Scotland.

Speaking after the match, Kane said, “It's another point closer to qualification and that's our ultimate goal,” before adding, “We just have to recover and look forward to the next game in a few days.”

Kane won the World Cup Golden Boot in 2018 but does not look 100% fit. He does not look like a player who finished with the most goals and assists of any player in the Premier League last season and that is concerning for Gareth Southgate.

England are a team who do not score a lot of goals in games and if the main striker is not at his best, it is going to be an issue going forward.

With Marcus Rashford and Dominic Calvert-Lewin on the bench, Southgate may choose to freshen things up for the final group game against Czech Republic. Jadon Sancho will also be hoping to start in attack and provide the spark that was missing in the final third against Scotland.

There is no doubt England that going to have to improve dramatically from the performance against Scotland if they are going to go on and win the European Championship.