‘It will take a long time to apologise for that game’
Midfielder Eric Dier tells John Percy how England’s Euro 2016 defeat against
us, confidence-wise, to go out like that to Iceland. So, of course, it was going to take time to recover. The change of managers, that’s not helped as well. But, hopefully, we can gain some momentum now under Gareth.”
Those sentiments were echoed by fellow goalscorer Gary Cahill, who said: “I felt like the last meet-up was under different circumstances. We were almost thrown together in a way.
“This meet-up has been a lot steadier, a lot more normal and he [Southgate] is starting to put his points across to us now on the training pitch.
“We worked a lot this week on finalthird entries and being more ruthless in front of goal, which was something that has come to light in this game.”
Although more was at stake during Friday’s game, Tuesday’s friendly against recently-deposed world and European champions Spain will arguably be more of a barometer of England’s progress under Southgate ahead of his expected appointment as permanent manager.
“It’s a massive test,” said Lallana, recalling a 2-0 defeat to the same side almost exactly a year ago. “We had a very difficult game against Spain away. I played in it and they gave us the run around at times. So, hopefully, the boss will have a way for us to set up and play well against them.”
Cahill added: “It’ll certainly tell us a lot because, whatever the team, whatever the system, you’re playing against top-class players.
“But this game was important to us for a lot of reasons – obviously the points involved, the rivalry – everyone builds this game up to be massive.
“So it was important that we went out and got the result that we hoped and have a smile on our faces.”
Cahill and Lallana both carried their club form into Friday night’s game, with their respective Liverpool and Chelsea sides having stormed to the top of the Premier League.
Midfielder Lallana said: “I feel I’m at the top of my game at the minute, as everyone is at Liverpool. And it’s nice to be able to bring that here on the international stage.” A Iceland still rankles s Eric Dier reflects on the highs and lows of the 12 months that have passed since making his England debut, there is one game that sticks in the memory for all the wrong reasons.
The frequent flashbacks of the Euro 2016 debacle against Iceland still give Dier the chills and he admits it could be another two years until England repair the damage.
After making his first start against Spain last November, Dier is now established as an England regular with his career continuing to take an upward trajectory under the expert tutelage of Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham.
He will face Spain again at Wembley on Tuesday with a growing reputation, arguably one of the best defensive midfielders in the country, while he is now even being discussed as a future captain for the national team.
Yet his international career remains defined by that embarrassing defeat to Iceland, a result branded one of the biggest upsets in European Championship history.
In a brutally honest assessment, Dier pulls no punches with a vivid description of how panic gripped Roy Hodgson’s players.
“The Iceland game is unexplainable when you watch it. We were just terrible. It was probably the worst time of my career,” he said.
“I went away straight away the next day and just tried to forget about it as quickly as possible. I came off at halftime and I was sitting there thinking I was going to go home and it was the worst feeling and you couldn’t do anything about it.
“We scored early on and I thought we were completely in control. Then they scored straight away from the long throw and that was a massive mistake because when they scored you could see them all realising that they could score against us and it gave them massive confidence.
“The more it goes on, you get more and more worried and we should have just trusted the process. We should have trusted ourselves to get it back. I think panic set in and when everyone realised it was happening by then it was too late.”
England’s defeat was swiftly followed by Hodgson’s resignation and Dier believes their qualifying campaign for the World Cup will do little to claw back supporters’ trust.
After being gifted another cakewalk of a group, with Friday’s victory over Scotland taking them to 33 qualifiers unbeaten, England – and surely Gareth Southgate – are virtually assured of a place in Russia.
Dier insists the hard work has not even started yet.
“It’s going to take a long time to apologise for that game [Iceland] and I think you can only look two years down the line and qualifying for the World Cup and going there and doing it,” he said.
“I don’t think you can repair it in qualifiers. After the Iceland game the only way to fix the image of one tournament is by fixing it at another tournament. I think the World Cup is the time to do that.
“I don’t know if that means winning it or whatever but we will have to do well. It’s going there and leaving the right image that we have a way of playing football, we believe in that way and we gave everything playing that way. That for me is the most important thing.”
Dier, 22, could have been forgiven for introspection over the summer as he watched Portugal win the Euros. After moving to the country at the age of seven, he began his career with Sporting Lisbon and there was even an approach from the Portuguese FA to ask whether he would consider playing for the country.
Yet his parents and grandparents are English, rendering the approach a non-starter, and after moving to Spurs in August 2014 his career has progressed rapidly.
He has not hit the heights of last season, despite Spurs’s unbeaten start in the league, but is clearly a vital member of the Pochettino revolution.
“I think last year went very well for
‘I’d like to think that one day I could fill the role of England captain but I am still finding my feet’
me and when I got my chance I took it in that position [defensive midfield]. I played well in it at the Euros and felt comfortable with it. I still do, to be honest, and I feel like I’ve done well every time I’ve played there,” he said.
“I’d like to think one day I could fill the role of England captain but I’m quite young at the moment and still finding my feet everywhere really. I enjoy learning a lot from my captain here.
“Wayne Rooney is a fantastic captain and great for us young players as he really helps us and I’ve learnt a lot from him. I need to learn from a few more captains before I can think of being one myself.”