Southgate Embraces Criticism As England Prepares For Denmark Clash In Euro 2024

Gareth Southgate remains unfazed by the ongoing scrutiny he and the England team face, even after their winning start to Euro 2024. England secured a 1-0 victory over Serbia on Sunday and have the chance to advance to the last 16 with a win against Denmark on Thursday. This would be the first time England has started a Euros campaign with consecutive wins.

Before last weekend's match, England had only once won their championship opener, also under Southgate at Euro 2020. These statistics were presented to Southgate ahead of the Denmark match, prompting questions about whether expectations for the team are too high. Despite a shaky second-half performance against Serbia, Southgate has grown accustomed to such narratives.

"I've been in this environment for eight years, so I understand it all," Southgate said. "It used to annoy me, but now I'm ambivalent to it. Winning matches in tournaments is incredibly hard." He noted that younger squad members might be more surprised by the critical response to their win.

Southgate elaborated: "You can see a lot of them who haven't been with England thinking, 'right, we've won our first game, and this is how it is?' That's a strange experience for some of the boys who haven't been with us. It's great that we have experienced players who can guide them."

England's performance statistics from the opening group games reveal that only Scotland (1) had fewer shots than England (5). Southgate stressed the importance of internal assessments over external criticism. "Our assessment of the game is most important. We're never slow to pull things up that aren't right," he stated.

Southgate acknowledged that Sunday's match did not go entirely as planned, with Serbia gaining momentum after half-time but failing to threaten Jude Bellingham's early header. "We didn't set out to sit back," Southgate insisted, addressing concerns about similar patterns in previous tournaments.

Both Southgate and England supporters are hoping for a more complete performance against Denmark. However, the manager confirmed that left-back Luke Shaw would not return from injury in time for the match. Right-back Kieran Trippier is expected to fill in once again.