June 7th 2024.
Last night at Wembley, Harry Kane had a tough time as England suffered a 1-0 defeat to Iceland in their last match before the start of Euro 2024. To add to manager Gareth Southgate's concerns, John Stones also got injured during the game.
In the 12th minute, Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson scored the winning goal for Iceland, silencing the Wembley crowd. What's even more worrying for England is that Iceland was able to easily break through their defense with just six passes from their goalkeeper before Thorsteinsson's goal.
After the match, Southgate admitted, "We learned a lot from this game, but our performance was not up to par. We have no excuses for the result and we need to do better, but I believe we can fix a lot of things quickly. Our pressing was not effective and we were too spread out without the ball. We were asked tough questions and we couldn't find the answers."
Before the match, Southgate's main concern was for all his players to come out unscathed before their first Euro 2024 game against Serbia on June 16. Unfortunately, Stones had to be replaced at half time after landing awkwardly on his ankle during a challenge from Thorsteinsson in the second minute.
When asked about Stones' injury, Southgate said, "We think he's okay, but we didn't want to take any risks considering what's coming up."
Despite having plenty of chances to equalize, including a missed opportunity from Harry Kane in the 29th minute, England couldn't find the back of the net. Anthony Gordon, who played on the left wing for England, had a good first half, but the team struggled to break through Iceland's well-organized defense.
Former England captain Wayne Rooney pointed out during the half-time analysis, "England needs to keep the width. Anthony Gordon is doing a great job on one side, but Cole Palmer is coming in too much, making the play very congested in the No. 10 area. Someone, whether it's Palmer or Kyle Walker, needs to stay wide on the right to stretch Iceland's defense and create more space in the middle."
Even after the break, England continued to push for an equalizer, but Iceland had a chance to double their lead when Thorsteinsson slipped at the crucial moment after being set up by Hakon Arnar Haraldsson's cross. Trent Alexander-Arnold, who came on as a substitute in the 65th minute, had a strong performance and created the most chances for England against Iceland. He has certainly made a case for himself to start against Serbia.
However, former England defender Matthew Upson had a different take on the disappointing performance. "That was a tough game to watch," he said in an interview with BBC Radio Five Live. "It's not a good feeling going into a major tournament. Even if they played poorly or had an off night, that's understandable. But what we saw today was flat and disjointed. It lacked character. It was just flat from England. We had no width, no directness or aggression, no physicality in our play. It was quite dismal and honestly, a bit boring."
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