England 1-1 Denmark: Leeds United hero drawn into bizarre Gareth Southgate excuse for lacklustre display

England boss Gareth Southgate believes the Three Lions stuttering performances at Euro 2024 are down to a lack of replacement for Leeds United hero Kalvin Phillips in the holding midfield role.

The Three Lions drew 1-1 with Denmark on Thursday evening after Morten Hjulmand’s impressive strike from outside the area cancelled out Harry Kane’s opener as both goals arrived in the first half. The Danes had more shots - 16 to England’s 12 - with seven of those on target compared to just four for Southgate’s side, as the Scandinavian nation also shaded possession.

Southgate was criticised for England’s performance in their opening win over Serbia as Jude Bellingham scored the only goal. Phillips was left out of Southgate’s 26-man squad for the tournament in Germany after a lack of game-time for Manchester City and a poor spell on loan at West Ham United in the second half of the season.

Southgate has opted to put Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold in the holding midfield role alongside Declan Rice but surprisingly claimed England’s struggles are behind not having a ‘natural’ replacement for Phillips.

Speaking after the game about Alexander-Arnold featuring in midfield, Southgate said: “It is an experiment and we know that we don’t have a natural replacement for a Kalvin Phillips. We’re trying some different things and at the moment we’re not flowing as we would like for sure.”

Phillips was first called up to the England squad in August 2020 after playing a key role in the Whites’ promotion to the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa. He played a key role at Euro 2020, held in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as he started every game as England reached the final - which they lost on penalties to Italy at Wembley. Phillips only missed 25 minutes of the tournament overall, as he was subbed off in the quarter final against Ukraine with the Three Lions 4-0 up.

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The midfielder is held in high regard at Elland Road and was recognised nationwide when he was voted England men’s player of the year in 2020-21. He made the switch to Manchester City in the summer of 2022 but struggled to establish his place under Pep Guardiola and spent the second half of the most recent campaign on loan at the London Stadium, but was unable to recapture the form he enjoyed at Leeds.

Phillips was first dropped by Southgate back in March as England played friendlies against Brazil and Belgium in preparation for Euro 2024. Explaining the decision at the time, Southgate said: "We don't have many players of that profile. But unfortunately his form just hasn't been good enough. I've spoken to him and he understands."

Despite their draw, England are still in a strong position in Group C. They sit top with four points while Denmark and Slovenia have two points each with Serbia bottom on one point. Even a surprise defeat against Slovenia would only see the Three Lions finish as low as third, with four of the six third-placed teams earning a spot in the last 16 of the competition.

Reflecting further on the draw, Southgate said: “Look, clearly, we’re disappointed with the two performances we’ve had. 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. Maybe the biggest thing is we have to accept the environment that we’re in and the expectations that are around us. We are going to have to walk towards that challenge. At the moment we’re falling a little bit short of that. Ultimately that’s my responsibility. I’m the manager and I’ve got to guide this group in the best way possible.

“To achieve extraordinary things, you have to go through some difficult moments. Today was a difficult moment without a doubt, towards the end of the game especially. But England have never won back-to-back qualification matches (to start the Euros) I was told yesterday, so there’s a reason for that and we hoped to write a different story today. We haven’t managed that. We understand what that will mean for the next few days, but we have to stay calm inside the group and find good solutions to improve it.”