How do you work this one out, Gareth? Pensive-looking Southgate is pictured for the first time since dire Denmark draw, taking a look at options to replace his struggling stars at training

Gareth Southgate is in the spotlight for the first time since England’s dismal 1-1 draw with Denmark at the 2024 European Championship.

The Three Lions manager still has a lot of thinking to do after a second successive poor performance following their earlier disappointing 1-0 win over Serbia.

Southgate has come under heavy criticism since last night as he struggles to get the best out of a talented squad and his tactics have come under heavy scrutiny.

England took the lead through Harry Kane, but as in the win over Serbia they dropped deep and invited pressure, allowing Denmark to punish the Three Lions with an excellent strike from Morten Hjulmand.

Southgate has been deep in discussions with assistant manager Steve Holland when he overlooked a training session involving players who did not feature in the draw against Denmark.

He overlooked a session involving players who did not participate in the 1-1 draw

These players included Cole Palmer, who has not played a minute at Euro 2024 despite scoring 27 goals and providing 15 assists in all competitions last season.

Southgate is under heavy scrutiny for his tactics and failure to get the best out of his players

Those players included Cole Palmer, who has not played a minute in the first two games despite scoring 27 goals and providing 15 assists in all competitions during the 2023/24 season.

Adam Wharton and Kobbie Mainoo were also present, amid questions about why Southgate is leaving them out.

Southgate made a bizarre claim after last night’s match, suggesting England are struggling to replace Kalvin Phillips.

He has experimented with Trent Alexander-Arnold alongside Declan Rice in the first two games, but the natural right-back has been replaced by Conor Gallagher in both games.

Southgate said: “I wanted to get Conor going; we needed some energy and more pressure.

“He (Alexander-Arnold) has had moments where he has delivered what we thought he would do. We know it’s an experiment.

‘We know that we have no natural replacement for Kalvin Philips. We’re trying different things and right now we’re not flowing the way we want to.”

England legends Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer both criticized Southgate’s tactics after the draw.

Fans were left stunned after he admitted England are testing Trent Alexander-Arnold as a replacement for Kalvin Phillips

England’s reserves will be hoping Southgate gives them a chance against Slovenia

Southgate in conversation with Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale on Friday

Match of the Day presenter Lineker said Harry Kane’s comments that England are unclear on how to pressure their opponents are ‘extremely worrying’.

He said: ‘Which I find inexplicable, to be honest… we’ve just seen Spain play, full high press, really high, they’ve got excellent technical players – that goes for England too. Why don’t they play the high press? Aren’t they coached to do this?

‘Can you do it with Harry Kane? I think you can. No matter how good he is, you have to believe in this, Harry. That has to come from management.’

Shearer, meanwhile, pointed out that Southgate is not getting the best out of the players.

He said, ‘Let’s use John Stones as an example. How often do you see him take the ball and run into midfield or get the ball to his back and turn in the Man City team? So often he is brilliant at it. How many times has he done that in the two England games? I can’t remember any.

‘How often do you see Declan Rice take the ball and charge forward? How many times have you seen him do that in an England shirt in the last two games? No.

‘How often do you see Foden take the ball in the middle of the park and turn around? Maybe once when he had the shot and it hit the post.

‘Gareth is not getting the best out of the best players at the moment.’