Reaction and analysis
Right then, I’ll be off. Tonight was a learning experience for England, an indelible experience for their four debutants, and a forgettable experience for anyone watching at home. Next up for England is a friendly at home to Wales on 8 October, before the visit of Belgium three days later. Onwards and upwards. Here’s the match report again. Bye!
Southgate is asked about Foden/Greenwoodgate, and speaks about it very sensibly in my opinion:
I’ve spoken to both of them. As I said yesterday they know what happened was unacceptable. It was unacceptable on a Covid basis but it was unacceptable on any basis. Either way they would have gone home. But they’re young men who need now support, because they’re everywhere in the press, everybody is wading in on them. They need help to rebuild, they need to understand the expectations of being an England player, and we need to help them in that process. You’ve got to help young people to get back on their feet, and that’s an important part of what we need to do. My mindset is not to hurt these boys any more, they’re going through that, with their families and with their friends, and I don’t need to add to that.
David Hytner has filed his match report from the Parken Stadium:
Pre-season is a time for experimentation and that is precisely what this was. A result that dented England’s Nations League aspirations was an unwanted part of the equation - Belgium, who beat Iceland, are now in charge of the section – but with so much being seen through the prism of the European Championship finals at the end of the season, what could Gareth Southgate learn here?
The short answer was that he saw too much to trouble him, particularly during a tepid first-half, and not enough to encourage. Southgate road-tested a 3-4-3 formation, which got a little tighter in the second-half and created a platform for some chances but England could not make the most of their limited crop.
Much more here:
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Gareth Southgate faces the cameras:
We’ve learned a lot. We’ve tried a new system which we will get better at. Given everything we’ve had to deal with, 10 pull-outs for various reasons, we wanted to start with stability. I think they’ve lost one in 25 games and we could have probably been a little bit higher in terms of our attacking threat in the first half but we were in control [stop sniggering]. Given the stage of the season that was really important. We weren’t going to be able to press high for 90 minutes. That had a bearing on the formation we played as well. Second half we started to accelerate the game with some of the changes, where we felt, OK, we’re in control. Putting Mason into midfield was a little more forward thinking, Jack the same. Very pleased with the lads who made their debut. The back three today were very very solid.
On the pros and cons of tonight’s formation:
Stability, building up, for sure. We looked very secure defensively, which is a great platform to build on. We’re looking at how do we develop it for some of the higher-quality opposition. Against the lower nations the 4-3-3’s worked really well. You do lose a little bit of that attacking threat, depending on the eights that we play, but to be honest the options we had to play that system tonight weren’t going to be able to get through the 90 minutes, and this was the best way to refresh the team.
There were no other goalless games in the Nations League tonight. In Luxembourg, venue for the only other match to vaguely challenge England’s for lack of drama, the home side went down to 10 men in the 84th minute and Montenegro scored a 93rd-minute penalty winner.
Jack Grealish speaks at a more sensible pace:
I was actually a bit emotional. It’s something every child in England dreams of, playing for England’s senior team. I was so privileged coming on. It was a shame we couldn’t get the win in the end. I want to thank Gareth for giving me the opportunity, hopefully it’s the first of many. It’s a brilliant day for myself and one of the best of my career so far. My first involvement, I thought ... I’m a bit gutted to be honest because when I went on that little run I should have pulled the trigger, or picked someone else. It was my first game and I was happy with how I did for my debut. I didn’t want to look too selfish, and tried to cross it where I could have pulled the trigger.
He’s asked about Foden/Greenwoodgate:
Phil and Mason are obviously young kids who will learn as they get older. I’ve been there myself. But I’ve tried not to focus on that, I’ve focused on myself and tried to impress the manager.
Conor Coady speaks! He speaks very quickly indeed, way to fast to transcribe it as it happens. In short, he’s pleased to have played for England, pleased with the clean sheet, sad England didn’t win.
Key conclusions: England need a left-footed centre-back, particularly if they’re going with a back three; the whole leave-the-front-three-to-win-it thing is a hopeless failure, particularly if they’re then played so far apart that the chances of them ever successfully combining are basically nonexistent; a creative central midfielder is helpful.
“The one good thing about playing matches behind closed doors is that players don’t have to deal with the deflating sight of fans leaving early,” notes Peter Oh.
The Danish FA describes their side’s effort as “94 minutes of bone-chilling work by every man”. It veered dangerously close to soul-destroying rather than bone-chilling at times, sadly.
Det slutter 0-0 mod England efter 94 minutters benhårdt arbejde af alle mand 👊🇩🇰#ForDanmark pic.twitter.com/DKNzNUrves
— Fodboldlandsholdene 🇩🇰 (@dbulandshold) September 8, 2020
Final score: Denmark 0-0 England
90+5 mins: The game is over. The second half was much better than the first, without ever quite being actually good.
Updated
90+3 mins: Kane should score! And it’s cleared off the line! It’s a wild thump forward but Schmeichel comes for it and gets nowhere near, Kane nips in front and takes it past him, and he only needs to lift it into the empty net. Instead he tries to pass it in, and Jorgensen clears off the line!
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90+2 mins: At the other end Denmark win a free-kick on the left, cross it in, and Kjaer again wins the header, under pretty much no competition this time, but pounds it over the bar.
90+1 mins: Kjaer, who came on for Braithwaite a few minutes back, heads the corner behind for another corner. There will be four minutes of stoppage time.
90 mins: Having said that, Maitland-Niles makes a nuisance of himself and the ball drops to Kane, whose shot from unlikely-but-no-better-idea territory deflects wide.
88 mins: Denmark have been looking the most likely to make a breakthrough in the last few minutes. Not exactly very likely, but more likely than the other lot.
86 mins: Trent Alexander-Arnold is off, Ainsley Maitland-Niles is on, England’s fourth debutant of the evening.
4 - This is the first time the England men's team has named four debutants in a non-friendly match (Coady, Grealish, Maitland-Niles, Phillips) since October 1962 in a European Championship qualifier against Poland (Ray Charnley, Chris Crowe, Mike Hellawell, Alan Hinton). Update. https://t.co/XuDyPEfl0d
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 8, 2020
86 mins: In tonight’s other League A Group 2 game, Belgium lead Iceland 5-1 in Brussels.
84 mins: While we still wait for goal No1, Cristiano Ronaldo grabs No101:
Ronaldo just scored an absolutely superb goal for Portugal. What an animal! Cristiano's second in Sweden tonight. pic.twitter.com/sOFFFcJa46
— Emanuel Roşu (@Emishor) September 8, 2020
81 mins: What a chance for Denmark! Wass’s cross deflects to Poulsen beyond the far post, who nods down to Eriksen, who volleys over from 12 yards with his left foot!
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80 mins: Grealish dances into the area from the left, but is dispossessed a pace or two before he reaches the Sensible Shooting Zone.
80 mins: Denmark’s rising sense of discomfort is shown in the way that Delaney presses Mount, which is in the literal rather than the tactical sense.
76 mins: Jack Grealish is on the pitch, and Phillips goes off. Denmark bring Rasmus Falk on for Dolberg.
74 mins: Given the quality of attacking players England have at the moment, this is bizarre. It must be somebody’s fault, and therefore by process of elimination Southgate Out!
Excluding penalties, England have failed to score in the last 400 minutes of Nations League football:
— Mr. Numbers (@Mister_Numbers) September 8, 2020
1-3* vs Netherlands (penalty by Rashford)
0-0* vs Switzerland
1-0 vs Iceland (penalty by Sterling)
0-0 vs Denmark
* including extra time
72 mins: With Mount and Sterling buzzing around, there are now forward passing options for England between the deep-lying Rice and Phillips and Kane. It’s been quite the transformation. Denmark bring Pierre Emile Hojbjerg on for Norgaard.
70 mins: A shot on actual target*! Sterling takes it from 20 yards or so. It might have been going wide of the near post but Schmeichel couldn’t be sure, so turned it round the post.
*Maybe
69 mins: Chance! And an actual England effort on goal! Things are starting to open up for England with their new-look front two, and a cross from the left finds Kane at the back stick, who heads over.
68 mins: Sterling has a chance to play in Kane, but overhits his pass slightly and both he and Kane end up on their knees, bashing the turf in frustration.
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67 mins: Phillips plays a nice pass down the left, which Kane runs on to. Sadly the only person who might have been in the box for him to cross to was Kane, but he wasn’t in the box because he was outside it, and also he couldn’t cross to himself.
66 mins: Another shot, for what it’s worth. Eriksen has it, from a free-kick around 30 yards out, and it floats a good 10 yards over the bar.
64 mins: Of today’s nine Nations League matches only this and Luxembourg-Montenegro are goalless. There have been 14 shots there, six of them on target, to only six here, two on target.
61 mins: England have a shot! Kane has it, from the right-hand corner of the area, and it hits Sterling, who is offside. Still, a shot!
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60 mins: The night’s first substitution sees England add a creative central midfielder in the shape of Mason Mount. Sancho goes off, ending a frustrating night for him in which he contributed very little.
60 mins: Chance (kind of)! Sterling chips the ball over the defence to Kane, who controls and blasts a shot at Schmeichel. He’s offside, so still no shot for England.
58 mins: Delaney’s shot from 22 yards or so rolls harmlessly into the hands of Pickford. Still, it’s a shot on target. England haven’t had a shot of any sort yet.
55 mins: A moment of excitement as Sterling’s pass sets Kane on a race with Jorgensen, with a free run into the penalty area at stake. Jorgensen wins.
Denmark v England.
— Danny Baker (@prodnose) September 8, 2020
Behind Closed Bores.#DENENG
52 mins: Braithwaite s late into a tackle on Kane, and gets the night’s first booking.
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49 min: Phillips is the latest to his a nice long pass to Alexander-Arnold on the right. The full-back appears to have mislaid his crossing boots, sadly.
46 mins: The second half has started. D:Ream wrote a song about this moment.
Elswhere, Cristiano Ronaldo has smacked in international goal No100:
1⃣0⃣0⃣ UP! 🔥
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) September 8, 2020
He's been stuck on 99 since November, but finally Cristiano Ronaldo reaches a century of international goals - and in typically brilliant style! 🎖
Watch #SWEPOR live on Sky Sports Football via the red button now! 🔴 pic.twitter.com/rz2BGp8Lfj
And Dejan Lovren has done this (France nevertheless lead 2-1 at the break):
It’s only Dejan Lovren channeling Zinedine Zidane with this world class goal against France. pic.twitter.com/LiDjQYgD8m
— amar singh (@amarjourno) September 8, 2020
“Back when James Maddison was being discussed as a possible England player, Southgate was interviewed and said, ‘He’s a number 10. We don’t play with a number 10,’” recalls Rai Skrupskis. “Perhaps we should.”
What’s for sure is that this tactical plan needs to be ripped up, and then burned, and then the ashes consumed, excreted and flushed. That should do it. The question is whether Southgate can do that before the end of half-time.
“As a Leeds fan, this is torture,” wails Michael Jenkins. “Over the last two years Kalvin Phillips has shown himself to be excellent at being the link between midfield and defence as the sole holding midfielder; at pressing; at dropping back to form a three when the full-backs bomb-on; at choosing the perfect moment to make all-in challenges when the opposition are on the counter. So Southgate’s decided to give him his debut playing next to another defensive midfielder, with no midfield in front of him to pass to, with no space behind him to drop into, with little pressing, and no need to make all-in decisive challenges. What’s the antonym for ‘tactical masterclass’?”
Half-time: Denmark 0-0 England
45 mins: The referee plays not a single second of stoppage time, which tells you something about the game. Jorgensen, Schmeichel and Eriksen all have a grumble at the Romanian whistle-botherer on their way off, presumably about those free-kicks from free-kicks.
44 mins: Denmark have visibly grown in confidence over the last quarter-hour, as they realise that they’re not actually going to need to do a lot of defending. Braithwaite sends another shot skimming wide.
43 mins: Another Denmark free-kick and this one’s weirder still, as the ball is curled to the edge of the six-yard box while all the red shirts stay at the edge of the 18-yard box, leaving four England players to compete for the honour of clearing.
41 mins: Denmark have won two free-kicks in the England half in the last couple of minutes, and on both occasions they have fouled England players as the ball comes in and the whistle has gone with it still airborne.
40 mins: The absence of fans is all that’s standing between England and a barrage of half-timely boos in about five minutes.
38 mins: Chance! Eriksen’s slow-motion wide turn makes Dier look like a prize marrow, and he then passes to Dolberg, who could easily have scored but instead gives Pickford some saving practice.
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36 mins: Now Sterling gets to the byline, just wide of the six-yard box, but there’s only one white shirt in the penalty area (though Alexander-Arnold’s doing his best to join him) and three Danish players block the ball’s path to Kane. That really exposes the limitations of England’s tactics shape tonight.
35 mins: Again England work space for Alexander-Arnold, this time refreshingly with a rapid interchange of low passes, but his low cross is cut out before it reaches Kane.
34 mins: Denmark send a low attempted through-ball skidding straight to Pickford, something they’ve done a few times so far.“The Iceland match was boring but at least you could admire the discipline of the Iceland defence and how they frustrated the English attack. This match is a sloppy disjointed mess,” rages Mary Waltz.
31 mins: Shot! Braithwaite runs onto a clearance, controls it nicely and then sends in a low left-footer that skims just wide from 20 yards.
30 mins: Dier does well to slide and cut out Eriksen’s through-ball as Braithwaite spun and prepared to surge goalwards.
29 mins: It’s been a very poor first half-hour from England. The front three are rarely getting the ball, and aren’t combining at all.
26 mins: The commentators are now chatting about Leeds’ Premier League prospects, which tells you something about this game.
24 mins: Alexander-Arnold lifts a nice pass into Denmark’s penalty area, but Kane fails to bring it under control. It’s all about the right-back for England at the moment.
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23 mins: Sterling gets the ball on the corner of the penalty area, but is forced to turn back. Denmark’s defensive shape has been very good.
20 mins: Another Danish attack, but Poulsen is surprised that Wass’s cross reaches him and thus doesn’t do anything useful with it.
19 mins: A shot! Kasper Dolberg takes it from 18 yards or so, but the ball just clears the bar. Denmark won the ball after a long spell of England possession in which England at no stage looked to have any clue what to do with the ball except pass it to central defenders, or occasionally play it short to a midfielder who would then pass it to a central defender.
16 mins: England maoeuvre Alexander-Arnold into another good crossing position, Dier this time with the long pass, but his cross finds Schmeichel.
14 mins: Skov blasts a shot over the bar from a 35-yard free-kick. Just before it comes in Poulsen goes down with a loud scream. Looks like a very enthusiastic response to an accidental Trippier touch on his heel.
11 mins: England attempt what used to be known as a Sheringham corner, but Sancho mishits his volley.
10 mins: Pass of the day (so far) from Conor Coady, who lifts a long pass over a backtracking Robert Skov and into the path of Alexander-Arnold, who wins a corner.
9 mins: Denmark try to play the ball around in defence, but a poor back-pass and some poor control from Schmeichel and he has to aimlessly thwack it clear to avoid conceding an entirely unnecessary corner.
7 mins: England have now completed an attacking pass, and Sterling has executed quite a nice double touch to fool a couple of defenders, but both penalty areas remain resolutely unthreatened.
4 mins: So far Denmark are pressing high, and England are giving the ball to them. I don’t think the visitors have completed a pass in their opponents’ half yet.
3 mins: Phillips’s first touch seems him attempt to surge out of defence and ends with Poulsen picking his pocket.
1 min: Peeeeep! Raheem Sterling gets the ball rolling for England.
Right then, preambles complete. Football ahoy!
Updated
The players are out, and half of them are currently belting out God Save the Queen.
Coady and Phillips aren’t the only England-based players making their debuts in Copenhagen this evening: there’s also Brentford’s Christian Norgaard.
🇩🇰 A huge night for Christian Norgaard as he makes his international debut against @England #BrentfordFC https://t.co/QPPKCGD4lg
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) September 8, 2020
Here are the starting line-ups again in text-only format, for those for whom Twitter embeds don’t really cut much mustard:
Denmark: Schmeichel; Wass, Jorgensen, Christensen, Skov; Norgaard, Eriksen, Delaney; Poulsen, Dolberg, Braithwaite.
England: Pickford; Gomez, Coady, Dier; Alexander-Arnold, Rice, Phillips, Tripper; Sancho, Kane, Sterling.
Gareth Southgate has a chat with Sky. The words “Foden” and “Greenwood” are not mentioned but much of it is about them and the recent snafu. “We have to keep winning football matches,” he says. “It’s simple. That’s what we’re tasked with doing. Everything else can be a distraction but you have to walk on through it.” He also talks about tonight’s debutants, Phillips and Coady, while simultaneously talking about the tabloid-titillating duo:
We’ve had total focus. We dealt with everything yesterday as soon as we left the hotel in Iceland. The players had already trained well. I think it brings the group tighter together and now we have to make sure people are talking about our football after tonight.
I was fortunate to hand two players their first England shirt today and we talked a little bit about what the badge means, what the requirements are, how you’ve to leave that shirt in a better place than you found it. They know the responsibility that comes with it but also the privilege of playing for your country, and it’s a great honour.
I don’t need to build the game up in their minds. They’re both more than capable of playing at this level. It’s a case of giving them the belief that they can go and perform as they do every week for their clubs.
The England team looks very much like a good front three and then some other people. Obviously Trent Alexander-Arnold is one of the others, so there’s some serious talent there, but it largely looks like a team set up to allow the three to just get on with winning the game.
Conor Coady has played every second of every Wolves PL game in the last two seasons but hasn't had a single shot. Four goalkeepers have had shots in that period. I suppose what I'm saying is that he'll score tonight vs Denmark.
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) September 8, 2020
Landmark:
This will be Gareth Southgate's 100th England game:
— Bill Edgar (@BillEdgarTimes) September 8, 2020
Player 57
Manager 43
We’ve got a whole lot of England-related reading for you to while away those dreary pre-match minutes. Here’s something on Southgate backing Foden and Greenwood:
Here’s something suggesting he shouldn’t have backed Foden and Greenwood:
And here’s something suggesting that we really shouldn’t be getting that bothered about Foden and Greenwood:
The teams!
The teams are already in, and look like this:
Vores 1️⃣1️⃣ startere mod @England
— Fodboldlandsholdene 🇩🇰 (@dbulandshold) September 8, 2020
Christian Nørgaard får debut på midtbanen 👏
Kickoff 20.45 på Kanal 5.#ForDanmark 🇩🇰 pic.twitter.com/VGwBEycUBG
Team news is in! 📋
— England (@England) September 8, 2020
Here is your #ThreeLions side to take on Denmark in the #NationsLeague: pic.twitter.com/4MCgCNx79P
Hello world!
Denmark, officially the 16th-best national team in the world, is the next test for Gareth Southgate and his fourth-ranked philandering friends, with those in the know suggesting that Conor Coady and Kalvin Phillips will make their international debuts in a game whose build-up has been dominated by the Greenwood-Foden isolation-flaunting hotel-based Icelandic scandal. There might be another back three, as in an entirely other back three - out with Maguire, Stones and the sent-off and thus suspended Walker, in with Coady, Joe Gomez and Eric Dier - while the centre of midfield will look like a bit this:
A bit like that, in that it’s a Philips Rice Cooker, and England will have Phillips and Rice. Will they, however, be cooking? That’s what we’re going to find out. Denmark have lost once in the last two years, even if that was to Belgium in Copenhagen on Saturday, and won’t have been scared by anything they saw as England struggled to overcome Iceland. Game on!
