England toiled to a lacklustre draw against Denmark (Picture: Getty)
Former Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker has claimed that England’s players looked physically ‘shattered’ after their drab 1-1 draw with Denmark at Euro 2024 on Thursday.
Despite taking an early lead through Harry Kane, England failed to press home their advantage and were pegged back through Morten Hjulmand’s long-range effort later in the first half.
As the game wore on, Gareth Southgate’s side struggled to keep a hold of the ball or create regular chances in attack and were forced to settle for a disappointing point.
The result means that England have all but secured their passage through to the knockout stages, but the manner of the performance drew widespread criticism from fans and pundits.
Speaking after the game, Mertesacker echoed the criticism but shared his concern for the England squad after a demanding club campaign for many of their key players.
‘Very disappointing ENG performance, from A to Z,’ he said on German broadcaster ZDF.
‘You don’t see anything of the stuff that many of these players do every week under [Mikel] Arteta or [Pep] Guardiola. They also look shattered and exhausted after the long season.’
Per Mertesacker said England’s players looked shattered (Picture: Getty)
Fellow pundit and former German international Christoph Kramer also questioned Southgate’s tactics, likening them to Bundesliga side Union Berlin – a team known for their defensive prowess rather than attacking fluency.
‘Anyone who has a squad like England cannot play like Union Berlin,’ he said. ‘I feel sorry for the players, they will be angry because they have to play this kind of football.’
Southgate, meanwhile, accepted his team had not been at their best against Denmark but said he still had full faith in his side to improve as the tournament continues.
‘Look, clearly, we’re disappointed with the two performances we’ve had,’ said the England boss, who must now prepare his team for the group finale against Slovenia on Tuesday.
‘We’ve got to go and analyse that in-depth and find some solutions to addressing the issues that we have. Over the next few days, we’ll spend a lot of time doing that. We know the level has to be higher, we know the level can be higher.’
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