England struggled to a disappointing 1-1 draw, with Gareth Southgate substituting his most creative player just eight minutes into the second half.
The Three Lions missed the opportunity to qualify for the knockout stages after a lackluster performance. Harry Kane’s opener was canceled out by a brilliant strike from outside the box by Morten Hjulmand.
Following another uninspired showing against Serbia, Southgate faces serious questions about his team.
He removed England’s most creative player, continuing with the same line-up as in the opening win against Serbia, with Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield alongside Declan Rice.
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The team’s balance was off, and the midfield was often overrun, with Christian Eriksen dominating the game.
The Alexander-Arnold experiment appears to be failing, and he was subbed off eight minutes into the second half for Conor Gallagher.
Despite a poor performance, Alexander-Arnold emerged as England’s most creative player statistically.
It would be surprising if Southgate continued to pair him with Declan Rice, given his repeated early substitutions.
Southgate admitted playing Alexander-Arnold in midfield was an experiment, raising questions about experimenting during a major tournament.
“He’s had some moments where he’s delivered what we thought he would,” Southgate told BBC One. “We know it’s an experiment.
We know we don’t have a natural replacement for Kalvin Philips. We’re trying different things, and at the moment we’re not flowing as we’d like.”
England will conclude their group stage campaign against Slovenia on Tuesday, needing an improved performance to gain momentum for the knockout stages.
