The Three Lions delivered a sub-par performance in their final warm-up game before the start of Euro 2024, while a first-half ankle injury to John Stones has added to Southgate’s concerns.
When asked about the negative reaction from England supporters at the full-time whistle, Southgate replied: ‘I completely understand,
‘We didn’t play well enough to keep them excited within the game.
‘We had some very, very good chances that normally would be finished which could’ve given a different complexion to the game and would have affected the confidence of the opponent but that might also have masked some flaws that were apparent tonight.
‘From my perspective, I’ve learned a lot from the game. But no qualms with the supporters’ reaction. To have the fans with you here obviously makes a massive difference but you have to give them enough goal-mouth action, you have to play well enough, press and win the ball with intensity to keep them with you during the game and tonight we didn’t do that, so we have to accept the reaction as it was.’
England begin their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on June 16, before facing Denmark and Slovenia in Group C and Southgate admits his side need to improve out of possession against Iceland.
‘I think with the ball we weren’t at the level we can be, individually, passes were given away,’ Southgate.
‘But in my opinion it wasn’t the major problem tonight – the major problem was without the ball which meant they got uncomfortable in the game.
‘If we’d have been better without the ball I think the rhythm of the game would’ve been different, we’d have had more sustained attacks, we created enough chances to win the game.
‘Yes, we can be better with the ball, we can be individually better with the ball, but it wasn’t the biggest factor, in my opinion, in the game tonight.
‘Physically the team is not perfect and we’ve got to make the best of that.
‘But having lost the likes of [Harry] Maguire, [Luke] Shaw, and the people as we have, the guys we’ve got in are the best in those positions and we’re doing everything we can to get them at the level they need to be.’
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