England v Slovenia LIVE: Predicted XI and build up as Southgate urged to ring changes

It is a fair walk from Dusseldorf Hauptbahnhof to the Merkur Spiel-Arena. It clocks in at around 90 minutes, typically, although it feels much longer in 27 degrees of heat, with the spring sun glancing off the surface of the Rhine and slow-roasting your cheeks.

Still, the long, straight, riverside route is scenic, and on Monday evening the blue of the Rhine was balanced out by the streams of red on its bank, as swathes of Albanians and Spaniards made their final pre-game trek of the group stage.

For the Albanians, it would be their last at Euro 2024, full stop. Not that they saw that as an inevitability before kick-off.

Luka Modric appeared emotional as a journalist paid tribute to him after Croatia’s heartbreaking 1-1 draw against Italy at Euro 2024 on Monday night (24 June).

The Real Madrid star had fired his nation into the lead seconds after missing a penalty and Croatia looked on course to qualify for the knockouts behind Group B winners Spain.

But a 98th minute equaliser from Mattia Zaccagni sent the Italians through instead, meaning Modric’s incredible international career is all but over.

“From an Italian journalist, I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve shown, not only tonight, but throughout your career,” a reporter told him at full-time.

“I’d like to ask you to never retire from your playing career, because you’re one of the finest,” he added, drawing an emotional response from Modric.

“I suppose it can do,” Declan Rice replied when asked whether criticism from ex-international players can exacerbate any mental health concerns in camp.

He added: “But I think what we’ve got here is such good togetherness. If you guys came into camp and watched us for the day you’d be like watching a bunch of kids at nursery.

“We are having a lot of fun off the pitch. It’s just like you said, physically we’re in a great position where we can play so many games, it’s just you always have to check up on each other, I think that’s so important, especially at tournaments.

“You’re here on your own, you don’t really get to see family, some lads haven’t had minutes yet.

“It’s so important we stay together as a group because mentally you can start to get away with things and that’s where I think we’re really good as a group, we’ve all got each other’s backs, which is the main thing.”

England’s place in the round of 16 was secured on Monday as Albania failed to beat Spain but that didn’t stop Declan Rice admitting that he wants England to play with more freedom when they face Slovenia in Cologne tonight.

“That is what we are all looking forward to doing tomorrow,” he said, “Going out there free in a way and perform and show everyone that we can be the team that we are trying to be.

“You see the lads that train and the lads that are expected to win the games for us, they look frightening, they look on it, scoring goals, playing really well and playing with confidence.

“What I mean by playing free is that we have had two games now, first one we won, second one we drew and didn’t play our best.

“It is a chance, because we are pretty much qualified, to go out there and just express yourself and have that performance where you can make an impact and get us through top of the group.”

Declan Rice has hit back at criticism that England’s players are too tired to make their mark at Euro 2024.

After a narrow victory over Serbia and a 1-1 draw with Denmark, manager Gareth Southgate said his team cannot commit to a pressing game because of their fitness levels.

Rice, though, refuted claims that England’s players are exhausted after demanding club campaigns.

“If I wasn’t fit enough or the lads weren’t fit enough we shouldn’t be here in the first place,” he said, “We should be able to compete for seven games, whether they go to extra time, we have got a squad of 26 players that are fit enough, strong enough, fast enough and ready to go the whole way.

“It’s ridiculous. Let them keep questioning it. We are built to play these types of seasons.

“Because we are sitting in a low block people automatically assume we are tired and leggy and not fit enough – if we’re not fit enough to compete for 90 minutes, we shouldn’t be footballers.”

Gareth Southgate says England are “definitely making progress” in terms of fitness, as he said the build-up to the final Euro 2024 group match against Slovenia required “a reset button” and “open and honest conversations”.

The manager clearly hopes this game will be a watershed in the team’s tournament, after two poor opening performances that brought four points but also a lot of criticism. Southgate himself made a point of stating how a lot of that was down to the physical condition of the players, who he found couldn’t press in the way the team wanted.

He stressed this is something that has improved over the last week. Southgate specifically pointed to the varying situations of Marc Guehi, Kieran Trippier and Harry Kane.

Harry Kane’s positioning on the pitch has been controversial over England’s opening two matches at Euro 2024. For some, he was too high against Serbia, for others too deep against Denmark.

He is damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.

“As always, with me personally, I’ve had it over the last four or five years, if I stay too high and I don’t touch the ball, I should drop deep and be involved,” he said. “And if I dropped deep, and get involved, I should be in the box to score.

“Have I played the best that I know I can? No.

“But I didn’t score in the group stage at the [2022] World Cup, I didn’t score in the group stage at the Euros [in 2021]. So from my point of view, it’s a bonus to be one goal ahead.”

“I don’t think we played well in the Denmark game,” said England captain Harry Kane in the build up to the Three Lions’ final group match against Slovenia tonight.

“We dropped below what we know we can. We’ve been a bit loose with the ball in comparison to how we’ve been in recent years and then that’s caused more time than we’re used to without the ball.

“I don’t think we’ve quite got the pressure right or the intensity right. We haven’t pressed with enough energy and enthusiasm, which will need to change going forward.”

As Harry Kane was talking about the pressures involved in wearing one shirt, he was offered another. Playing for England brings pressure, responsibility and criticism. The escape route was offered by an enterprising reporter from local German television, inviting Kane to play for seventh-tier SG Lauscha/Neuhaus.

The offer included free bratwurst, he said, sufficiently confident to bring a shirt with the striker’s name on it while brandishing a contract. “I’ll have to talk to my agent and see what we can do,” smiled Kane.

“The bottom line is we haven’t won anything as a nation for a long, long time and a lot of these players were part of that and they know how tough it is,” countered Kane.

Declan Rice says James McClean’s criticism may have come from “bitterness towards me not playing for Ireland”, although he was keen to praise what he had thought was a good relationship with the retired winger.

McClean created headlines as a pundit on Irish national station RTE, by describing his former international teammate as “overrated” and “not world class”, with follow-up comments on the passive nature of his game.

Rice said: “Do you know what? I played with James for Ireland for three games and I got on with him really well. I am not going to sit here and slag him off. I thought he was a really top guy. When I left Ireland to come to England, I heard a few things he was obviously not happy about. He made comments a few years ago.

“It is what it is. I am not going to sit here and say anything about him. He’s had a great career himself – I think he is coming to the end of his career now and he’s got over a hundred caps for Ireland.

“It would be easy for me to sit here and say something back to him but, like I said, we are at opposite ends of our careers now – he’s 35 and I’m 25. I’ve known him, I’ve played with him, he’s entitled to his opinion and I’ve had to fight a load of those opinions from other people before.

“It might be a bit of bitterness towards me not playing for Ireland but I’ve not got a bad word to say about him, to be honest. I see the comments but I don’t try to put too much energy into it. It is what it is and you move on. You live and learn.”