‘The two midfielders are worth £224 million’ - Deeney claims England will get eliminated by Argentina

The England national team have made it to the quarter-final after a dramatic last-16 victory over Mexico in the Azteca Stadium.

Despite the team's progression in the tournament, they have not been convincing with their performance, failing to dominate games.

Deeney is particularly critical of England's high-priced midfield pairing, Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson, arguing they have failed to control any match so far.

While many hailed the performance as one of the Three Lions' best, Deeney, now a CBS analyst, believes the team's journey will end in a potential semi-final clash with Argentina.

"The two holding midfielders are worth £224 million between them, and we haven’t dominated one game out here when they’ve played together," Deeney stated. 

"In fact, tell me when we dominated one half. We haven’t dominated one period of any game. We can’t keep turning the ball over the way we have been in midfield."

The pundit also questioned whether manager Thomas Tuchel has delivered on his promise of a more aggressive, front-footed style of play.

"My wife said to me the other day that every time I speak about England, I sound like I hate them," Deeney admitted. 

"I don’t, I just have an expectation. It’s about what I’m told and what I see. We were told by Thomas Tuchel we were going to be front-footed, and we were going to see a real different England. I haven’t seen that yet in this tournament."

Reflecting on the win against Mexico, Deeney dismissed the praise, describing the performance as poor before England took a 2-0 lead through a "fortuitous" goal and effective pressing. 

"Could we manage it for ten minutes? We don’t. In fact, it only looked like they were going to score," he said. "We didn’t command the ball, we didn’t take care of it."

Although Deeney expects England to overcome Norway, his long-term outlook is pessimistic. "I’m expecting us to win, but at the moment I’d still fancy Argentina to beat us in the semi-final if we both get there," he concluded. "It’s time we put a performance together."