Gareth Southgate warned England that talent alone will not carry them to glory at Euro 2024 after they fell to a flat 1-0 defeat by Iceland on Friday night.
Southgate, whose problems were exacerbated by John Stones leaving Wembley with strapping on his right ankle, had no issues with his team being booed off after floundering in their final warm-up game before they fly to Germany on Monday.
England were worryingly confused in attack and they were just as suspect at the back. They struggled to recover from the shock of Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson’s early goal for Iceland and Southgate, who admitted to concern over his side’s lack of intensity without the ball, hopes that this setback acts as a wake-up call.
“It does focus the mind that any sort of complacency that talent is going to get us this trophy and that we only have to stroll in … football is not like that,” England’s manager said. “You’ve got to be spot on in every aspect of the game to win any game at this level and we were a long way short of that tonight and Iceland deserved their win. They had a couple of other chances on the break. I think it really focuses the minds to really drive the team over the next week.”
Southgate explained that he took Stones off at half-time as a precaution after the defender took a blow to his ankle in the first minute. England have already been forced to leave out Harry Maguire because of a calf injury and they are still waiting for Luke Shaw, their only left-back, to return to fitness.
“We decided at half-time there was no point in taking any chances because we’re obviously so close to the tournament and he’s a very important player for us,” Southgate said on Stones. He added that Marc Guéhi, the Crystal Palace defender, was fine after being treated for a blow to the face.
England will need to regroup before facing Serbia in their opening game in Group C on 16 June. “I’m confident we will be better [against Serbia] than we were tonight,” Southgate said. “We were managing so many different things through that game and we ended up with a relatively young team on the pitch, some of whom ideally we would have got off physically as well. It was a game where we made six subs but we’d have liked to have made more. The physical side is a slight concern because we have so many physical issues.
“We’re focusing on all aspects but we can’t hide the fact that we’ve got a lot of physical issues. That’s plain for everybody to see. Nevertheless, we could be better than we were tonight. We have to be more compact, press better and then take the chances that we created. But I think we can resolve that. It’s a good opportunity to get on the training pitch and remind ourselves of what’s important in terms of winning football matches. If the intensity of your game isn’t right without the ball it can create you a lot of problems with the ball as well.”
Southgate accepted the reaction from the crowd. “We didn’t play well enough to keep them excited,” he said. “We had some very, very good chances which normally would be finished, which could have given a different complexion to the game. But that would have masked some flaws that were apparent tonight. From my perspective, I’ve learned a lot from the game.”
Declan Rice tried to stay positive after England managed one shot on target. “There’s no doubt about our quality on the ball as a collective,” the midfielder said. “Maybe against the teams that sit in it’s about being a bit mentally switched on. I felt at times we were a little stretched, not as compact as we usually are. Inside I’m hurting and between now and the next game there’s work to be done.”
