Sven-Goran Eriksson criticism levelled at Gareth Southgate after woeful England draw

Gareth Southgate has been told he is making the same mistake as Sven-Goran Eriksson in the wake of England's desperate draw against Denmark.

The performance in Frankfurt was arguably England's worst in a major tournament since the abject loss to Iceland at Euro 2016, despite Southgate naming the same starting XI that beat Serbia 1-0. Questions were raised over Southgate's decision to again field Phil Foden and Trent Alexander-Arnold out of their best positions, with the England boss admitting the latter's midfield role was an "experiment".

It is argued Southgate, just like former Manchester City boss Eriksson, is prioritising individual talent over team balance. The Swede was frequently criticised for his insistence on playing Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard together, often at the expense of Paul Scholes, who found himself shunted out to the left.

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Micah Richards, speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, believes Southgate's team is unbalanced, saying: "It's frustrating because there are so many good players. Do you have too much when you've got so many good players? Does it make it more difficult?

"I think Gareth, at the moment, is trying to get the best-rated players on the pitch, which is not necessarily best for the balance of the team. He's playing Foden, he's playing Trent, and we all called for them to be playing. We need a play in a system that suits them [the team] higher up the pitch."

England fans booed their team off the pitch at the final whistle and Southgate admitted that he and the players must accept the criticism. He said: "Look, I think we have to accept this is the environment we're in. The environment of winning on the biggest possible stage."

"If we don't hit the level, if I don't hit the level that's needed, then we have to accept what comes our way. We have to find the best way to solve that."

"Of course we need the fans, you know we need the fans, but I have to say they've been brilliant, absolutely brilliant in the stadiums. And I can completely understand their frustration with the way that we played, but what I would say is these boys aren't lacking effort at the moment."

"It's not a case that they're not trying but we've got to find a better way of playing, we've got to find more quality in what we're doing. I don't think people would look at them and say 'they don't care'. If anything at the moment we care too much and we've got to find a way of getting that right balance."