JOB FOR THE BOYS
Southgate: I’ll carry on taking risks and won’t worry what the FA think
GARETH SOUTHGATE has promised to carry on putting his faith in young players – even if it costs him his job as England boss.
Southgate (right) insists he is not worried about the sack and pressure because he believes picking “fearless” youngsters is the only way forward for the
Three Lions. He is trying to usher in a new generation of talent after England’s old guard of Wayne Rooney and Co suffered failure at tournaments.
Under-20s World Cup winners Lewis Cook and Dominic Solanke have been drafted into the squad to face Brazil tonight.
And Southgate said: “I think I was given the job as I understand the pathway and how to join the whole thing up. But I can’t control, if we have moments of pressure, how other people [at the FA] respond.
“If you’re a manager and you worry about that it inhibits your decisions. You can become risk averse, and there’s a danger that you can forget about trying to win – and try not to lose.
“That’s why I feel happier this month than last month, when it was all about trying to qualify and worrying about the consequences if we didn’t.
“Now we’re striving to be as good as we can be and see how far we can go.
“The innocence of youth can be wonderful and we must play on the strengths of it. These young players also have experience of winning youth tournaments – they have had to show resilience of their own. “We’d love a team full of players who have won the Champions League... but we haven’t. I want fearless players who are prepared to have the ball and show what they can do on the biggest stage.”
You are either going toe-to-toe with these guys or you are just there for the ride. That’s how I always felt