Dan Childs: Time running out for England's issues to be addressed

England's players were queueing up to accentuate the positives after Tuesday's dull 0-0 draw against Slovenia and bookmakers still have the Three Lions as favourites to lift the trophy.

But supporters gave an opposing verdict with a chorus of boos after the final whistle and it's clear that England's short price is as much to do with their fortunate draw, which has landed them in the opposite half of the bracket to heavyweights Spain, France, Germany and Portugal.

The disconnect between team and fans will need to be fixed if Gareth Southgate's side are to deliver on their potential and land the nation's first major football title since 1966.

Players generally perform better when they are feeling confident and there have been suggestions that England fans would be better served by getting behind the team.

However, anyone watching the Slovenia game would have been hard-pressed to question the level of support coming from the stands right up until the moment referee Clement Turpin brought proceedings to a close.

Southgate's side were roared on for the vast majority of the game but gave their fans little in return and were left to depend on the lack of a Danish goal against Serbia to avoid being dragged into an ultra-competitive top half of the draw.

As it is the luck kept coming for England on Wednesday as Georgia's 2-0 win over Portugal meant the Three Lions will meet Slovakia on Sunday in the last 16 rather than the Netherlands.

England are the 4-1 favourites to win the competition but their backers have every right to feel a little nervy because, barring a significant improvement in performance, there is every chance of a wonderful opportunity being wasted.

The first step towards finding that improvement would be to stop questioning the fans' views and start facing up to some harsh truths.

Harry Kane's post-match assertion that England's display against Slovenia was "the best performance out of the three" might be factually correct but only because the first two efforts were so dismal.

Then there was Southgate himself, who asserted that "things are starting to come together" as well as making several comments on the importance of fans supporting the team.

The Three Lions gaffer seems to be going more and more into protection mode when, instead of glossing over valid criticisms, he would be far better served coming up with some serious answers.

He had a wonderful chance to make some meaningful changes against Slovenia but opted for one alteration – swapping Trent Alexander-Arnold for Conor Gallagher – and maintained the unbalanced setup of deploying only one out-and-out winger – Bukayo Saka – against a team who were also going to favour a disciplined, compact low block.

Kobbie Mainoo did well after his half-time introduction but there was no sign of a game-changing alteration of tactics and Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon was not called upon until the 89th minute.

Southgate made another strange post-match comment by saying "we are not quite getting the break in front of goal".

In reality Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak was not seriously tested and the disappointing England offering maintained a trend of recent performances which have lacked ideas and intensity despite the immense talent at Southgate's fingertips.

Fans can be emotional with their reactions but the statistical facts are pretty damning.

After the final matches of Groups C and D, 16 teams had completed the full quota of three games.

Of those sides, England ranked 12th on total expected goals with 3.42, and 13th in terms of total shots with 29.

England have looked reasonably solid at the back despite approaching the tournament with question marks over their ability to defend.

However, Southgate's side now approach the critical stage of the tournament when extra-time and penalties become a possibility and the best way of avoiding those draining and unpredictable experiences is to play with a greater degree of freedom.

There is plenty of time to for Southgate to take stock and reassess before the round of 16 and it will need to be used wisely if a generation of immense talent is not to be wasted.

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