England headed to face Slovenia on Tuesday night for a World Cup qualifier with expectations of picking up three points. However, the Three Lions came away from Ljubljana with just a goalless draw.
In truth, Gareth Southgate’s team were lucky to have escaped without defeat, after goalkeeper Joe Hart made a number of good saves. The Torino loanee was just about the only player on the pitch to justify his selection on a poor night for the Three Lions.
Slovenia are no pushovers and as expected the game was a tight affair. The clash was never going to be a comfortable win for the beleaguered Three Lions. It turned out it was not as the home side provided more of an attacking threat.
The draw keeps England in contention for top spot in the group. However, the result did interim boss Gareth Southgate’s chances of getting the job on a permanent basis no favours. The former-Middlesbrough boss has revealed he felt that he inherited ‘a mess’.
The England national team has been undergoing something of a crisis in the last six months. Fans would have been looking to Southgate to provide inspiration to his team. If this is really an audition for Southgate as England boss he may just fail to get the job.
Southgate could not have been expected to cure all England’s many ills in just a few games. However, there was no sign of any improvement from the Three Lions as the home side had the better of the game.
The England interim boss has been accused of lacking charisma and his team’s performance may be illustrated that on the pitch. The interim boss does not come across as a guy who is capable of motivating the current group of England players.
England needs a man of great character, charisma and strength to drag them out of their current malaise. At the moment Gareth Southgate does not look like that man.