Neville admits both he and his
Performances not good enough, says manager Lionesses lose again as Germans strike at death By Molly Mcelwee
Nothing about Saturday’s recordbreaking 77,768 crowd at Wembley was commonplace for an England women’s game, but the performance and result – a 2-1 loss to Germany – are starting to have a feeling of deja vu about them.
Slow, nervy start? Check. Missed penalty? Nikita Parris made it four misses from England’s past four attempts. Conceding from a cross? We have been here before. That is 10 goals conceded from crosses under manager Phil Neville.
England are developing habits – bad ones – that are becoming evident every time they take to the pitch. The only difference this time was that Neville acknowledged that the buck ultimately stops with him.
“I do take responsibility,” he said. “As a manager you have to, because ultimately I do pick the team and I do set the culture. We have a good culture but, at this moment in time, we’re not playing winning football.
“Firstly, I need to look at myself and what I’m doing, and make sure
I’m better, because as a manager you’re the one that leads. I will protect the players and they know they’ve got my trust and belief, but we’ve got to make sure we’re better. My performances haven’t been good enough and you can see that with the results we’ve got.”
It was a marked about-turn on his observations following the previous four friendlies since the World Cup. This injury-time defeat meant England have just one win from their past seven.
And yet, during their winless run, Neville called their football “outstanding”. He was staunchly defiant in the face of criticism, unbending in what bordered on deluded praise for a team who were clearly struggling.
In at last offering some reflection and recognising they have taken a step backwards since reaching the World Cup semi-final, he has at least won back some respect. But the pressure to turn things around remains. He admits finding their winning form again might mean redressing some of the tactics and style of play he had previously refused to budge on.
“As a manager you want to live and die by your beliefs but, ultimately, the run that we are on means something has to change,” he said. “Performance levels have to change and it is up to me to find that formula.”
He did not bow to suggestions his team were not good enough to play the kind of attacking, possession football he has attempted to instil, and argued that it is still what will pay dividends at the Olympics next year, and beyond to Euro 2021.
“For the long-term development of the Lionesses we have to play this style of football. It is the England DNA. It is the way Gareth [Southgate] is playing, that I am playing, that the pathway coaches are playing on both sides. It is what we believe in.
“We just need to get better at it and better at it faster. The mistakes are coming not because of the shape we are in, but little technical errors that we are working on all the time. I am hoping [it will come good] on the big occasion, whether at the Olympics, or Euro 2021 or the World Cup in 2023. We have to look at a way of finding a tweak to make sure we start winning games again.”
The players, too, are eager to return to winning ways. On a historic night for women’s football, the jubilant scenes after Ellen White’s equaliser proved the only real moment of celebration for the squad, who were in dejected mood.
“I guess it’s the story of our lives at the moment,” Beth Mead said. “I guess we’ve got to believe in what we’re doing. We’re lucky, if anything, it’s the right time to be doing it. We’ve just got to find that missing link. Massive emotions at a stadium like this with the crowd. You want to get the win and a result for them. So it’s disappointing as a player and I’m sure the coaching staff feel exactly the same.”
The tricky part now is overcoming the mounting pressure and putting on a convincing display against Czech Republic – ranked 28th in the world – tomorrow.
“We’ve got to refocus ourselves,” Mead said, “and get in the mindset that it has to be a must-win game so that at least we finish 2019 on a high and can prepare, ready for 2020, to hopefully hit the ground running.” England
One clean sheet in their past seven is no coincidence – England have a defensive problem. It may stem from Neville’s persistent tinkering with the back four prior to and during the World Cup, but his latest partnership of Steph Houghton (right) and Leah Williamson for the past three games has been caught out in the air time and again.