Gary Neville sees major problem for England: 'They can’t afford that'

Underwhelming

Gareth Southgate's England team put in another underwhelming performance in their final group game of Euro 2024, drawing with Slovenia, the 57th-ranked team in the world.

Qualified top

Despite the 0-0 draw, England still qualified top of the group after Denmark and Serbia failed to score in their final contest, making Group C the lowest-scoring group of the competition.

Southgate in the firing line

Finishing top of the group hasn't been enough for England fans because the performances have been poor, and England manager Gareth Southgate has been in the firing line for mismanaging their 'massive talents.'

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“Cannot afford to mismanage them”

According to BBC Sport, former England defender Gary Neville said: "England have Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Kobbie Mainoo, Phil Foden - massive, massive talents and we cannot afford to mismanage them."

“Where can these players fit”

Neville spoke on England's positional problems: "We are the only country in the world who continually ask, 'Where can these players fit?'."

Tough decisions

The England boss has faced tough questions on Phil Foden playing off the left rather than in the middle and the balance in midfield, with Trent Alexander Arnold and Conor Gallagher not gelling in the middle of the park.

Sparks off the bench

Chelsea's Cole Palmer got his first minutes of the tournament against Slovenia and put in a bright cameo, while Anthony Gordon played the final five minutes and created more chances (1) than Bukayo Saka, Conor Gallagher, Jude Bellingham combined, Sky Sports reports.

"Smashes the door down"

Talking to ITV, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said: "Your nature as a coach is to ease them [young players] into things, but now and then there is a young player that comes along that just smashes the door down and you have got to let them go through."

“End up being the key players”

"I am sure 12 months ago Kobbie Mainoo, Adam Wharton, and Cole Palmer were not in his top-40 players for this Euros - they could end up being the key players."

Problems to fix

England will play their round of 16 game on the 30th of June, and Gareth Southgate has some real problems to fix if England are going to continue progressing in the championship.

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