Gareth Southgate will not risk a “shambles” at England’s next Euro 2024 qualifying camp by resting players after a long season. The manager was delighted at how his team began the campaign with wins against Italy in Naples and Ukraine at Wembley and has started to think about the fixtures in the summer.
England face Malta away on 16 June before entertaining North Macedonia at Old Trafford three days later. The final round of Premier League games is on 28 May, with the FA Cup final on 3 June. The Europa League final is on 31 May and the Champions League final on 10 June, meaning Southgate’s players will have breaks of varying lengths before Malta and North Macedonia.
It is easy to imagine they will not be overjoyed at having their seasons extended into the second half of June but Southgate wants nothing to halt the momentum that has been built.
“We should always pick our strongest possible squad,” he said. “We’re representing England. Caps have to be earned. Harry Kane won’t want to miss England matches in the summer – I’ll tell you that now. There’s physical freshness and there’s psychological freshness and I think psychological is key.
“They’ll get a break before they come and we’ve talked with them about that to make that work in the best possible way. If we don’t select certain players it sends the wrong message to the group. Then what’s to stop others pulling out and you could end up with a shambles pretty quickly. We’ve got to make sure we get June right. We’ve given ourselves a great start to the group and we need to capitalise on that.”
Southgate’s tenure and how he has transformed the culture around the squad is to be the subject of a play written by James Graham and staged at the National Theatre. The manager will be played by Joseph Fiennes. “That’s generous casting,” he said. “I don’t know what to make of it. I won’t be going to watch it. It wouldn’t feel right.”
Southgate was happier to discuss Jude Bellingham, likening the 19-year-old’s maturity at a young age to that of Wayne Rooney. “I remember one of Rooney’s first games against Turkey at the Stadium of Light [in 2003 when he was 17] – the intelligence of where he was on the pitch,” Southgate said. “In terms of personality and how he carries himself, Jude is in that bracket.”
The Netherlands kickstarted their Euro 2024 campaign after their 4-0 defeat to France, but Ronald Koeman's side were still far from convincing as they beat 10-man Gibraltar 3-0 in Rotterdam.
Memphis Depay headed home Denzel Dumfries' cross for the only goal of the first half before Nathan Aké [pictured] doubled the hosts' lead five minutes after the restart, Dumfries again the provider. Liam Walker was sent off moments later for a studs-up tackle on Mats Wieffer.
The minnows held on to the two-goal deficit until the 82nd minute, when Aké got his second goal via a deflection to secure the team's first points in Group B. 'We were sloppy in possession. It was a very difficult evening,' admitted the Dutch captain, Virgil van Dijk, afterwards.
In Group F, Sweden bounced back from their opening defeat to Belgium as they thumped Azerbaijan 5-0, with Emil Forsberg and Anthony Elanga among the scorers. Forsberg broke the deadlock seven minutes before half-time, with Bahlul Mustafazade's own goal making it 2-0.
Viktor Gyökeres' tap-in put the result beyond doubt, before Jesper Karlsson added a superb free kick with two minutes to go. There was still time for Elanga to complete the scoring in style, running through the defence and rounding the keeper to add a fifth in Stockholm.
Austria are top of the group after a late 2-1 comeback victory over Estonia. The visitors led at half-time through Rauno Sappinen's goal after Michael Gregoritsch had missed a penalty. The Freiburg striker made amends in the 88th minute, netting the winner after Florian Kainz had levelled in Linz.
In Group G, Balint Vecsei, Dominik Szoboszlai and Martin Adam all scored as Hungary began their campaign with a 3-0 home win over Bulgaria. Dusan Vlahovic’s late double earned Serbia a 2-0 victory in nearby Montenegro, along with top spot in the group.
In Group E, Poland earned a narrow 1-0 home win over Albania with Karol Swiderski on target just before the break. After losing to Czech Republic in Friday's opener, Poland are now a point behind the group leaders after they were held to a goalless draw in Moldova. PA Media/Reuters
Bellingham is tipped to move from Borussia Dortmund this summer with a number of top clubs interested, including Liverpool, where his England teammate, Jordan Henderson, is the captain.
“If it ended up being Liverpool, that would be amazing,” Henderson said. “But it’s got to be right for him and it’s going to be every club you can think of that will want him. There’s going to be one lucky club that will end up getting him – whether that is now or in a year or two. His potential is through the roof. I can’t believe his age and mentality. Have I seen it before? Not at that level.”
