Gareth Southgate: ‘England training is like a youth club – these boys love playing for their country’

Gareth Southgate believes he has ended a culture of players feigning injury to avoid England duty during the duller international breaks by making the national team a fun environment.

Frequently in the past, England’s top players would develop mysterious injuries which ruled them out of representing their country during the fortnight with their country but were miraculously healed by the time the next Premier League game arrived.

This does not appear to be the case with Southgate’s England and — aided by the success of the national team under his leadership — he considers a major factor in the change is that players are enjoying meeting up with the squad.

Laughing and joking

“We want them to enjoy wearing the shirt,” Southgate, who was involved in the Euro 96 England squad who are considered the last to have a similar level of unity, said. “Any time you go in the dressing room or walking around the hotel, [during the last two weeks] it was like a youth club.

“You can hear them laughing and joking and having fun and they’re relaxed and they’re enjoying being together and enjoying playing. When you see such young players play with that expression and freedom that’s what we want to create.

“It’s not a case of what we say it’s how they feel about coming and being a part of it. When they feel the support of the fans, as well, then that makes it extra special for them because it really means more.”

Work to do

Southgate also claimed that despite finishing fourth at the World Cup and reaching No 5 in the Fifa rankings, more is to come from his England squad.

“There’s a bit of consistency in those teams that have done well this year and across the calendar year we’ve matched what most teams have been able to do,” he said.

“So that should give us a lot of energy and hunger to keep going because none of us are anywhere near the finished product.”