England ended their tumultuous group campaign at the Euros in a boring fashion. Rarely did the mighty Three Lions test Slovenia’s captain and goalie, Jan Oblak, as the game ended in a goalless draw. As expected, the former English players turned pundits are unhappy with the Gareth Southgate-coached team’s outing.

Manchester United legend Roy Keane thinks England’s performance did not generate an ‘end product.’ Additionally, Gary Neville lamented that the Group C winners are still off-kilter. Anyhow, despite a 0-0 win and still having qualified for the knockouts, English captain Harry Kane thinks his team has improved in the last game.

Speaking on ITV Sport, Roy Keane said Kobbie Mainoo was comfortable in the English lineup, and Cole Palmer made the difference. “Palmer has the X-factor. Every time he gets the ball, he tries something. Still, there was no end product, and they didn’t test the keeper,” said Keane.

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher echoed Keane’s opinion while giving his take. “Palmer has done OK since he came on. But I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel looking for positives,” Carragher said.

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou observed on ITV that the English team’s “balance wasn’t quite right.” Postecoglou also added that Southgate’s biggest challenge is to fix these imbalances within the team and urged the English boss to deploy more young talent instead of protecting them. England skipper Harry Kane, however, has let out a huge breath in his post-game interview. Kane concluded his statements with an ultimate reality check about the UEFA Euro tournament.

Harry Kane offers a reality check after the boring England vs. Slovenia draw

England made 12 attempts to score a goal and hit the target four times. They indeed did better than Slovenia offensively. And Harry Kane thinks the Three Lions have improved.

“Tonight was tough. We played much better than the other two games, but we couldn’t find that final bit of quality, final pass, finish, or cross,” said Harry Kane. He also appreciated the Slovenians for making this tough for England. Then came a reality check from the English skipper.

“These games are really really tough. We’ve been here before and stepped it up in the knockouts. But it’s going to be difficult. It may take extra time, it may take penalties. That’s the reality of this tournament,” Kane added.

Considering how much England has struggled in the group stage, it goes without saying that the knockouts won’t be a bed of roses. Having won Group C, England can face a third-placed team from Groups D, E, or F. This means there is a chance for England to face a heavyweight like the Netherlands or Belgium. Let’s see if England will buck this forgetful trend in the knockouts or continue their abysmal display against potential heavyweights.