Raheem Sterling believes there has been an overreaction after England’s opening two games of Euro 2020 – but insists “there’s more of a panic on the outside than inside the building”.
England’s players were met with loud booing inside Wembley after their goalless draw against Scotland on Friday, despite also beating Croatia and securing four points from two potentially tricky group stage games.
The performances of star striker Harry Kane have also been criticised with some calling for England’s captain to be dropped for the final group game against Czech Republic on Tuesday.
England manager Gareth Southgate, however, is set to keep faith with Kane and start him against the Czechs.
England need a win to top the group or a draw to finish second. Should they lose, they could still qualify as one of four third-place teams who have collected most points.
“I do feel there’s a bit of an overreaction on the whole,” Sterling said. “I just feel there’s more of a panic on the outside than inside the building. At the same [time] the players who have been at a few tournaments, who have huge experience, try to help the other ones.
“I don’t see anyone in the camp that feels any pressure or feels hard done by. As much as we can inside the building the best thing we can do is focus on the training field, focus on what’s being doing inside.
“The more you listen to outside noise, the more it can affect you. If you’re not really looking into that the better it is for you as an individual and as a collective as well.”
Sterling has been left bemused by the response since the Scotland game.
“It was a disappointing game for everyone inside the building, for the whole country as well, but at the same time, we have four points and we go into one more game and we can try to look at the positives and the positive is we can go out on Tuesday, get a good win and that game, the second game, is all forgotten about,” he said.
“I keep stressing we’ve got four points and we’ve got one game to go and we’re going to need our fans on Tuesday to get us across the line.”
Asked about the booing inside Wembley, Sterling explained that the supporters are entitled to expect the highest standards from the team.
“I feel the fans have an expectation of us with the players we have in the squad and that is rightly so. But as you can see from different games in the tournament, not just in our group but other groups as well, it is tricky in international football. It is not as easy as people think.”
Kane has been the subject of intense scrutiny. He was substituted in the 82nd minute against Croatia and 74th minute against Scotland, but England’s manager defended the decisions.
“One of the games we were already ahead and we needed energy to press and keep the lead – we didn’t need an additional goal,” Southgate told ITV.
“During the World Cup [he] ended up playing a lot of football and we felt the need to manage that load a little bit this time. And we have got good options on the bench to bring people into the game.
“But he’s our most important player, there is no doubt about that – you have only got to look at his goalscoring record with us to see his importance to the team.”
Sterling, again, urged for a sense of perspective.
“He hasn’t scored in two games. That’s not that serious. It’s two games and I’m sure when whether when we need him most, he’s going to score,” Sterling said.
“That’s not a question in my mind. We as a team, of course, need to produce more for him, more crosses in the box, but it’s two games gone by. Of course, he’s a player who knows he can score in every single game, and he will be the first person to be disappointed but at the same I know when it’s crunch time Harry will be there, that’s for sure.”
Southgate has consistently called upon Sterling for England, but although the forward started the Champions League final for Manchester City he struggled to get in Pep Guardiola’s first team for the last few months of their Premier League title-winning campaign.
“If you’re not playing, you’re not happy,” Sterling admitted. “That’s me, that’s been me since a kid, if I’m playing football I am really happy, if I’m not I’m not happy.”
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- In praise of Emma Hayes, the best pundit at Euro 2020 so far
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- How to watch every Euro 2020 match on TV and online in the UK
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3cV6tZk
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