I watched the game yesterday on Spanish TV in my apartment, as I'm on holiday. This meant I didn't hear the so called experts chunnering on during the game or after it. It showed a shot behind the scenes just before the second half started. The players are just standing around. At the back is Phil on his own. He's red faced and looks totally pissed off. In the foreground is Southgate. He had a folder in his hands and looked like a bloody PE teacher at school. I have no idea why he was there, he wasn't talking to the players, they were just talking amongst themselves. To me it looked like a divided camp who have lost all faith in their manager. If they have, who could blame them?
We have no discernable tactics except to try and take the lead and hold on. Everybody looks scared to death on the ball and nobody seems to know where they're supposed to be playing or what to do. Bellingham was awful yesterday. Just running into trouble, lose the ball, fall over and shockingly just sit there with his hands up looking for a free kick. Arnold in midfield is literally like playing with a man short. Rice is putting in a lot of work but gets near the opposition penalty area and runs out of ideas. Kane was awful. A slow plodding lump, he could hardly hold the ball up or pose any threat. His suicidal pass to nobody that created the Dane's goal was criminal. Phil and Saka looked our only goal threat and he took Phil off. Laughable!
There isn't an easy solution to this mess. Arnold needs dropping and Phil putting in midfield. Out wide we need some pace, Gordon or Palmer. Upfront we need more mobility, Watkins or Toney. At the back we're probably stuck with what we have. We should stumble out of the group but I fear for our chances against the first half decent side we meet, we could get a drubbing.