England team v Slovenia leaked with Man Utd star ruled out, Liverpool man axed as Southgate hits ‘reset’ button

England coach Gareth Southgate has admitted to holding “open and honest talks” with his players following their indifferent Euro 2024 displays so far, with the Three Lions side to face Slovenia in their final Group C match having been revealed.

Southgate and Co are already through to the last-16 of the European Championships with a game to spare but will need to beat Slovenia on Tuesday evening in Cologne to guarantee top spot and ensure, what looks on paper at least, a relatively simpler passage through the competition. More importantly, England need a good performance too, with Southgate admitting that getting that right will inevitably lead to good results anyway.

England went into the tournament as one of the favourites to win the Henri Delaunay Cup, and ending 58 years of hurt in the process. Having come so close in recent years, Southgate admitted before the tournament that nothing less than success this year will suffice.

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However, the early performances have not been good. And while no side will want to peak too early, England’s displays in their two group matches so far have presented far more negatives than positives.

Much of the criticism has been aimed at the midfield, with Southgate opting to select Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold in the engine room alongside Declan Rice. But having witnessed start brightly in both games before letting their advantage and control of the game slip, the Three Lions boss has been questioned about the wisdom of the selection.

And having admitted after the Denmark draw that England are experimenting in finding a natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips, Southgate’s former Crystal Palace teammate Ian Wright has strongly questioned his comments.

Southgate reveals open and honest England talks over performances

England certainly have the talent at their disposal and it is right that fans and pundits alike could have expected more from their players so far.

And in an acknowledgment of that fact, Southgate has admitted to having a heart-to-heart with his uber-talented squad to try and spark an improved performance.

Southgate said: “Our identity has been pretty clear. We haven’t quite seen that in the first couple of games and there was a need to have a reset button and have open and honest conversations.

‌“We reflect as a coaching team. The players are reflective. So nobody has been ducking anything this week, nobody has been alone in their thoughts.

“It’s a real collective because we’re all on the same page. That allows us to assess where we were and how we need to progress in the same direction.

‌”What we’ve talked about is performance. We know that the results have put us in a strong position, but we want to play better as a team. You’ve got to move away from the emotion and focus on how we get better performances.

‌“That’s our job as a coaching staff, where we really have to get the focus right. With the players, there’s always going to be a lot of emotion around tournament football, but the process of building a team is to prepare, play, reflect, learn, improve and that’s what we’ve got to do.

“There’s of course a lot of other things involved in pressing a team, but when you boil it down, you’ve got to keep looking for improvement and seeking perfection, which you’re never going to get. But we know our performances have to be at a better level – and completely understand the reaction to that.”

Southgate discusses topping group and England sacrifices

Southgate is adamant that regardless of where England finish in Group C, there will be no easy matches in the knockout stages and he has instructed his players to abandon all thoughts on how a potential route to the final might look.

“Whoever we play in the next round, if we win the group and play a third placed team, that could be Holland, Austria. They’re top sides. It would be a myth to think we’re going to gave an easier route by avoiding certain teams or playing others,” he added.

Southgate insists England’s focus, though, remains on progressing as far as possible and admits plenty of sacrifices have been made by both the players and the coaching staff to aid their prospects.

The players’ wives and girlfriends have been allowed into camp the day after a game, though generally speaking, it is business as usual with England’s focus on going all the way.

“Unfortunately all the staff sacrificed that bit. They didn’t have their families. All of our staff know what they are signing up to. It is always the players we look at first.‌ But generally speaking we want the staff to also have some time, they are working long hours, they need to recover as well, they are travelling, they are arriving back late from matches, the kit still needs to be washed, the analysis of the next opponents still needs to be done, the medics are working flat out.

“I am really appreciative of the support team we have here and they are excellent at what they do. The environment they provide for the players is first class, though they need time to also relax and unwind. On that day we were so late back that a lot of us were catching up on some sleep really and then we are preparing meetings for the following day.”

England team v Slovenia leaked

On how the players have unwinded, Southgate added: “People have been playing a little bit of padel tennis but not a lot of time for anything else.‌. We remain balanced and keep perspective because we also have to remind the players of the position we hold in the group and that we have control of the group and now the objective is to win the group as well.

‌”The longer it has gone on for me, the easier it is to compartmentalise all those things and be really clear on what is important for me, as the leader, to focus on and the tone I need to set with the players.”

In the meantime, it is understood that England will likely make just one change to the side to face Slovenia, with Conor Gallagher expected to start in midfield alongside Rice as a replacement for Alexander-Arnold, and with the Liverpool man dropping to the bench.

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Southgate will resist, though, the urge to make further changes, meaning the likes of Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon – neither of whom have seen any action so far – will have to wait a little longer at least to get some minutes under their belts.

And while Jude Bellingham faces a late fitness check – and the Real Madrid star will not be risked if he is not 100% – England will otherwise likely name 10 of the same 11 who started the match with Denmark.

Southgate, however, has also confirmed that Manchester United man Luke Shaw has again failed to pass a fitness test and will again be ruled out the contest, though the England boss would not say whether the full-back will be fit come Sunday for their last-16 tie.

That will mean a 51st cap for Kieran Trippier, with the Newcastle right-back once again starting out of position on the left-hand side.