Gareth Southgate admits England cannot afford a repeat of the defensive problems exposed during their Euro 2020 warm-up games when the tournament gets underway this week.
The Three Lions manager – who named Brighton defender Ben White as the replacement for the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold in his final 26-man squad – admitted he was unimpressed with elements of his side’s defensive display in Sunday’s narrow, 1-0 victory over Romania on Sunday.
A Marcus Rashford penalty divided the two teams, but it took a number of fine saves from keeper Sam Johnstone – including an outstanding reaction save from Andre Ivan – to ensure Southgate’s side signed off ahead of Sunday’s opening group game with Croatia with a win. And four days previously, Jordan Pickford had also been kept busy by Austria in another 1-0 victory.
Back to back clean sheets were undoubtedly a positive, but Southgate acknowledged he had been given cause for concern.
With England’s Manchester City and Chelsea contingent set to return having been given an extended rest following their exertions in the Champions League final, the defensive unit that lines up at Wembley will bear little resemblance to the ones employed last week with John Stones, Kyle Walker, Reece James and Ben Chilwell pressing for a start.
Harry Maguire’s continuing recovery from the ankle ligament injury that kept him out of the end of Manchester United’s campaign, though, means Southgate will almost certainly be without one of his first choice centre-backs.
The manager opted to strengthen his defensive options following the enforced withdrawal of Alexander-Arnold with the selection of the versatile White, who impressed at centre-back against Romania, despite Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse making a strong case for inclusion with an eye-catching display.
The England boss made it clear, though, that defensive improvements are needed throughout the side, and warned his players they will be punished during the tournament if they fail to learn the lessons of the previous week.
“I didn’t like us without the ball in the first half but that was the whole team,” Southgate said after the Romania win. “That started from the front. We weren’t disciplined in the way we defended.
“Our recovery runs were not good enough. It meant that the midfield was stretched the back players had too many decisions to make. They were having to come in spaces where they shouldn’t have needed to be. Without doubt we can improve on that.
“I have also got to allow the team that played the reality that we had made a lot of changes and had to preserve some players and give others minutes that they needed.
“There is a lot of work to be done on the training ground as without a doubt we cannot give up the number of chances we did today and not expect to be punished.”
Southgate now has just a handful of days working with his full squad to prepare for the meeting with Croatia and admits the preparations will be critical to England’s ambitions.
“To win tournaments we have to get every aspect of the game right and all the small details right,” he said. “We can improve on all the small details on the two performances we have had.
“This now is a period where you can build with a team. It’s one of those rare occasions where you get some work with the team, some continuity and opportunity to improve and we will take every opportunity we can over the next few weeks to be able to do that and polish every aspect of our game.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3v1xL6v
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