Defiant Gareth Southgate refuses to rip up team with Phil Foden to start against Slovenia

Phil Foden will keep his place as England stick with a familiar front four against Slovenia - Getty Images/Eddie Keogh

Gareth Southgate has defiantly vowed not to rip up his team, with Phil Foden poised to keep his place as England attempt to give their Euro 2024 campaign lift-off against Slovenia.

Uninspiring performances against Serbia and Denmark have prompted calls for Southgate to make drastic changes, but the England manager has ruled out overhauling his team.

Southgate is expected to keep faith with Foden for England’s final Group C game against Slovenia in Cologne. Conor Gallagher is poised to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield, but that may be Southgate’s only change.

That could upset critics, who have called for in-form pair Anthony Gordon and Cole Palmer to get a chance, with others wanting Jude Bellingham moved back to partner Declan Rice in central midfield to free up space for Gordon to come in.

But, despite revealing England had hit the “reset button” after the Denmark game in an attempt to get back on the front foot, Southgate has made it clear that he is not planning major surgery to his team.

“The big risk is you have a kneejerk reaction and you move away from things that are going well,” he said. “You can rip everything up and go in a completely different direction, but what’s actually going well? We don’t want to lose what’s going well.

“Then it’s OK, how can we add to what we’re doing?’ Your best players are still your best players. We might not have functioned as a team as we would have liked for a large part of the second game and a half of the first game. But that doesn’t mean what we’ve been doing for the last two years in particular and the period before that, we shouldn’t be throwing everything out of the window.

“That’s where we have to stay calm and make sensible decisions, and make the right calls, keep everybody on track.”

Gordon and Palmer are yet to play a single minute in the tournament, but the in-form pair may have to hope their chance against Slovenia comes from the substitutes’ bench.

Southgate took off Foden, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane in the dismal draw with Denmark, but the trio appear likely to get another chance to shine together in Cologne on Tuesday night.

Kane this week revealed that he, Foden, Saka and Bellingham had been working on how to combine better and more effectively ahead of the Slovenia game.

Kieran Trippier has been managing a slight calf issue during the tournament, but he will continue to stand in at left-back in the absence of Luke Shaw, who only returned to group training on Monday.

Southgate confirmed that Shaw would not be part of the matchday squad for the Slovenia game, with England knowing that a win will guarantee their progression as Group C winners.

Luke Shaw is still not fit enough for a place in the matchday squad - Adam Davy/PA Wire

“We were pretty certain four points would qualify us and then it’s about winning the group,” said Southgate. “We’ve trodden this path before, we’re exactly where we were points wise in the last Euros, scored a goal more and conceded a goal more. On the path to the next round and now we want to control our destiny by winning the group.”

England will avoid a last-16 clash with hosts Germany if they finish top of Group C, but Southgate completely dismissed the idea that his team could secure themselves an easier path in the knock-out stage by beating Slovenia.

Southgate said: “Whoever we play in the next round, if we win the group and play a third-placed team, that could be Netherlands, Austria. They’re top sides. It would be a myth to think we’re going to have an easier route by avoiding certain teams or playing others, I think.”

Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa is believed to have impressed Southgate in training and could get a chance from the bench against Slovenia if England get themselves in a position to be able to take players off and give them rests.

Southgate, though, believes the physical condition of most of his players is steadily improving and said: “We’re definitely making progress. When you think that when we got Marc Guehi through the door, he’d had 70 minutes, which was the most he’d played for Crystal Palace in the last three months.

“Tripps hadn’t had 90 minutes for three months. Then Harry and others coming back from injuries as well. So two days in, with a bit of recovery time all those players will be in a better place that’s for certain. And that’s definitely going to help us as we progress through the tournament.”

Southgate allowed the wives, girlfriends and families of the players into England’s base camp after the Denmark draw, but revealed he and his staff are not able to see their loved ones during the Euros.

“Unfortunately all the staff sacrificed that bit,” said Southgate. “They didn’t have their families. All of our staff know what they are signing up to. It is always the players we look at first.

“But, generally speaking, we want the staff to also have some time. They are working long hours, they need to recover as well, they are travelling, they are arriving back late from matches. The kit still needs to be washed, the analysis of the next opponents still needs to be done, the medics are working flat out.

“I am really appreciative of the support team we have here and they are excellent at what they do. The environment they provide for the players is first class, though they need time to also relax and unwind. People have been playing a little bit of padel tennis, but not a lot of time for anything else from my side.”

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