MY FEAR
GARETH SOUTHGATE is worried that England’s lack of big-match experience could be the biggest danger to their World Cup chances.
Three Lions boss Southgate fears that England’s draw will bring its own pressures and the weight of expectation on young shoulders, which can quickly go wrong.
He will continue to put his faith in England’s youngsters, but admits he is worried about history repeating itself.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jordan Pickford and Joe Gomez are in with a chance of going to their first major tournament and Southgate has warned of the dangers of getting carried away with the draw.
England will face Tunisia, Panama and Belgium in Group G and are already fancied to get through to the knockout stages.
But the biggest worry in Southgate’s mind is a flashback to Euro 2016 when they were humiliated by Iceland.
England were also knocked out of the last World Cup in the group stage when Costa Rica were the surprise package and Southgate is desperate for that not to happen again.
Southgate said: “We don’t know what we’re capable of, really.
“We feel it’s an exciting team, a team which is only going to get better, but we are a team which lacks some experience in those big pressure matches, which is maybe why that happened against Iceland. We know, in the last World Cup, that Costa Rica won the group, against everybody’s expectations.
“It’s about how you perform, not about your ranking now, but how you perform in the tournament and getting every aspect right.
“When you’re in the second pot of seeds, by nature, you are going to play two teams who are seeded lower than you, so you have to handle being second favourites in the group. That can be difficult, too.”
England play their first group game against Tunisia on June 18, five days after the tournament starts, and Southgate believes that could be a big help.
“There’s a bit of travelling, but also some breaks and that could be good with injuries because it gives them time to clear up,” he said.
“You are always grateful for time as much as possible for any game. Travel-wise, you have to be adaptable, but kick-off times are decent for us as well.”
Belgium will be a huge test for England, but Southgate’s former England team-mate Graeme Le Saux insists that, despite the lack of experience in the squad, they should have little to fear.
Le Saux said: “Hopefully, by the time we play Belgium, we’ll have six points on the board and we can play with a bit more freedom.
“Whoever we meet beyond that – if we qualify with solid performances – we should feel that we’re the favourites, but it’s the next round that will pose some potential problems.”