IT’S NO MORE MR NICE GUY
Gareth to get ruthless in bid for England glory
THE bronze medal had simply been tossed in a bag, gareth Southgate making it abundantly clear that he had no great desire to celebrate.
Sure, his spirits had been lifted here on Sunday afternoon by the character his England players displayed — winning another penalty shootout after dominating a Swiss side that appeared even less enthusiastic about a nations League third-place play-off.
But Southgate revealed something of a tortured soul before boarding a team bus bound for porto’s airport, admitting that ‘over the last 48 hours’ he had ‘probably been awake for 47 of them’ as he reflected on an opportunity missed against the dutch.
Lessons certainly needed to be learned but Southgate can also reflect on the progress that has been made since the last World Cup as well as the signs that his team is continuing to develop. trent alexander-arnold provided evidence of that against the Swiss, even if Southgate was a little cautious in response to whether the Liverpool youngster was going to be England’s right back for the next 10 years. ‘He was very good in terms of his use of the ball,’ said Southgate. ‘His technique for crossing is fantastic. But there’s still a bit to do defensively, on positioning and awareness. But he’s had some fantastic experiences already in a very short career and he’s on a really good trajectory.’
alexander-arnold’s deliveries were a big reason why England dominated. is he England’s best crosser of a ball since david Beckham?
‘He’s his own player,’ said Southgate. ‘in training yesterday he wandered to the other end of the training pitch with a bag of balls, put one down — they had a wall up — he whipped it round the wall into the top corner and then just walked off. He’s got great belief in his delivery.
‘and he’s a good lad. His mum came to the hotel the other day — i’ve met her before — and she’s a wonderful woman. i think they feel part of the England family. i went to the States with him when he was in the Under 17s and he’s a lovely kid. He’s also matured in that time. He got sent off in that tournament. When he was younger he had lapses like that. But he is 20 years old and has already played in two Champions League finals. it’s an amazing start.’
Southgate said Jurgen Klopp has managed his progress skilfully. ‘He’s shown great faith in him, to put him in the team at Liverpool and keep him in the team when he’s had a few difficult moments,’ he said.
thursday was disappointing but since the World Cup there have been fine displays, against Spain, Croatia, Czech republic and Montenegro.
‘i think we have made progress and the biggest sign of that progress for me was the mentality of everyone in the hotel in the last couple of days,’ said Southgate. ‘once we had calmed all the emotion and the theories as to why we had lost, the drive was there. We weren’t satisfied and everyone wanted to make sure we go beyond a semi-final next time. that’s the healthiest sign for me.’
going beyond a semi- final, Southgate said, could well demand change, however.
‘ Well, i think we created an environment that took a bit of pressure off the players,’ he said. ‘We wanted them to relax, to express themselves.
‘But there now comes a point where, actually, we’ve got to demand more and we’ve got to find another edge. if people can’t cope with it then they are not going to be able to cope with it under pressure.
‘i’ve got to make sure that i’m constantly raising the bar and we don’t accept any kind of sloppiness to creep in. i think the players want driving and they are starting to own a bit of that themselves, which is really important.
‘all of the group have the potential to be with us but we’ve got to keep pushing the standards every day. it’s not just about the matchdays. they become a reflection of things which happen in training and habits which take place every day.’
SoUtHgatE said he had analysed thursday’s defeat in detail. ‘ When you lose there’s millions of theories floating around a team as to what should have been done differently.
‘Sometimes you have to dwell on that and boil it down to exactly why you lost, which was because of really poor decision-making. it was obvious to everyone watching that it wasn’t just the goals we conceded. We made too many errors on the night. We did not get our set-play defending right.
‘But we had to prepare for the Swiss. So there was a lot of work for the staff over the past 48 hours, and for the players to get in their mindset, as much as anything, that this game was important. and it’s a huge credit to this group of players to go 120 minutes in the last game of the season and win it.
‘all of these things are going to help them become winners.’