fifa world cup Russia 2018
Southgate’s taking nothing for granted this time
GARETH SOUTHGATE says he won’t underestimate whoever England draw today.
The England boss will be in the Kremlin audience this afternoon to see the hand his side are dealt for next summer’s World Cup.
And while former boss Roy Hodgson says England shouldn’t fear anyone, Southgate won’t be taking anything for granted.
Hodgson was in charge at the 2014 World Cup when Costa Rica escaped their supposed ‘group of death’ at England’s expense, while his reign was ended by the humiliation of being knocked out of Euro 2016 by the minnows of Iceland.
Either side could be standing in England’s way again after today, along with the more obvious threats of the likes of Germany, Brazil or Argentina.
Scouting
But whoever comes out of the hat, Southgate will do his best to avoid making the same mistakes.
“Very often we have under-estimated countries,” said the former England defender.
“I was in Brazil in 2014 scouting and I watched Costa Rica’s first two games last time. Everybody had ruled them out and I was sitting there watching them celebrate qualifying after two matches.
“Our preparation for matches, no matter who we play against, has to be very good, thoroughly detailed and prepared for scenarios where things don’t go to plan.
“We are really guilty of underestimating the quality of other teams.
“In Euro 2016, Iceland had some really good players. None of these teams are a given.”
England could yet be accused of underestimating Russia as a country – all 6.6million square miles of it, spread over 11 time zones.
Five of those will be in use for the World Cup and the FA will be keeping their fingers crossed that the draw does not make an ® from GEORGE SCOTT in Moscow absolute mockery of the decision to set a base in Repino ahead of the draw.
If, for example, England are given the third slot of Group H, they will face games in Saransk, Kazan and Samara, three cities barely 200 miles apart in the Volga basin.
The trouble is that the Three Lions’ planned itinerary, flying in and out from their chosen base near the Finnish border, involves racking up nearly 5,000 air miles. “We have researched it all,” Southgate said. “In terms of the travel, the longest flight is three hours. That’s nothing – all the players are travelling that sort of distance for Champions League games. Maybe double that distance on some occasions.
“Our last game at Wembley we drove down by bus to The Grove and that was three hours. This isn’t a situation like we had in Brazil where Manaus was a six-hour flight.
“The logistics of the games in Russia are closer together.”
So, too, he insists, are his players. Southgate watched a recent programme in which former internationals Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard discussed how the so-called ‘Golden Generation’ was ripped apart by club rivalries.
“I could relate to elements of what they said from my time but there were other situations which definitely developed after that time,” said Southgate.
“I have already had brief conversations with some of the former players about those sorts of things and club rivalry will always exist.
“But I think we have a different situation where a lot more of our players have grown up playing together through the Under-21s and even in age groups before that. There is a really tight feel.”