ENGLAND’S bitterly-disappointing draw with Denmark means the spotlight is focused on Gareth Southgate ahead of Tuesday’s group decider with Slovenia in Cologne.

What are the problems the England boss is wrestling with after the opening two games of the Euros? And how might he set about solving them next week?


THE TRENT EXPERIMENT

Playing Trent Alexander-Arnold as a central midfielder has failed. In each of England’s opening two matches here in Germany, the Liverpool full-back has looked all at sea playing at the heart of midfield.

His display against Denmark was wretched, with passes going astray on a regular basis and his lack of positional nous glaringly apparent.

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Surely Southgate must accept he has got it wrong and leave Alexander-Arnold out of the team that lines up against Slovenia on Tuesday?

Who should play instead? Well, Conor Gallagher is the safe option, and given the Chelsea midfielder came off the bench to replace Alexander-Arnold against Denmark, that’s probably the way Southgate will go. Will Gallagher provide the kind of dynamism and creativity England are crying out for though?

Adam Wharton might be inexperienced, but he holds onto the ball and looked comfortable on the international stage in his cameo against Bosnia in one of the warm-up games. Kobbie Mainoo is even younger, but he was the Man of the Match in the FA Cup final. Is it time for Southgate to roll the dice?


FODEN DILEMMA

Another option, in terms of changing things around, would be for Southgate to drop Jude Bellingham into a slightly more deep-lying position and effectively go with just one defensive midfielder in the shape of Declan Rice.

If Bellingham was to fill the Alexander-Arnold role alongside Rice, but with a greater degree of freedom to push forward, that would free up Phil Foden to move into the ‘number ten’ slot where he is surely at his most effective.

Foden delivered an improved display against Denmark on Thursday, but it was still telling that all his best moments came when he drifted infield to a central position rather than being stationed out on the left.

If England are going to achieve anything at this tournament, they need to get both Bellingham and Foden playing at their best. At the moment, that isn’t happening, so something has to change.


PALMER AND GORDON?

Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon were two of the most in-form players in the Premier League for much of last season, yet here we are, two games into the Euros, and despite the fact England are struggling, neither player has had a kick.

Is it time for Southgate to be bold and axe some of the players who had previously been seen as untouchable? Foden and Bukayo Saka have been regulars throughout most of Southgate’s reign, but you can pretty much count on one hand the number of world-class performances that either has delivered in an England shirt. Why shouldn’t Palmer or Gordon get a chance instead?

And there’s another elephant in the room here – Harry Kane. Is the England skipper fit? He might have scored his side’s goal against Denmark, but his overall game lacked spark and, in both of the matches so far, he has looked laboured.

In the space of two darts behind the defence, Ollie Watkins asked more questions of the Danish defence in two minutes after coming off the bench on Thursday than Kane had managed in more than an hour. It will feel like heresy to some, but are we getting towards the stage where even Kane should no longer be regarded as impossible to drop?


GAME MANAGEMENT

Since the turn of the century, England have taken the lead and failed to win on 14 different occasions in a major tournament. That is a staggering statistic that goes a long way towards explaining why things have gone so wrong, so often.

The issue predates Southgate, but it has got even worse during his reign, with the manager’s innate conservatism clearly having permeated throughout the squad.

Why, after taking the lead, do England’s players immediately drop deep and seek to hold on to what they have rather than going for the jugular and looking to extend their advantage?

Presumably, it’s coming from the manager – and if it isn’t, he needs to do something about it. Be bolder, get on the front foot, impose your own style on the opposition rather than retreating into your shell.

England’s mindset under Southgate is far too negative, and even if it doesn’t prevent them from making the knockout rounds, it will almost certainly be their undoing once they encounter one of the big boys. If you’re going to go out, die on your sword rather than exiting with a whimper.