England a ‘work in progress’ and behind Euro 2020 favourites in development, claims Gareth Southgate as he urges calm
GARETH SOUTHGATE says England are ‘a work in progress’ and playing catch-up with fellow Euro 2020 favourites.
On paper, the Three Lions look stronger than when Southgate guided them to the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2018.
But the limp performance against Scotland – fielding their youngest-ever starting XI at a major tournament – was a reality check.
The England boss said: “Some teams are at a different point in their development.
“The run that Italy have had – 28 or 29 games unbeaten – and we know what France and Portugal have done over the last few years.
“And Belgium have been the No 1 team for four years.
“So that’s the level. That’s the standard we’ve got to aspire to. We’re a work in progress.”
England were booed off at half-time and after the goalless draw at Wembley.
Southgate wants fans to show more ‘warmth’ to his young team after they ‘just about survived’ the Battle of Britain.
He said: “I always look at myself first and in the end when you have a result like we had, I understand there’s going to be criticism and that’s perfectly acceptable.
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“The important thing is that everyone gets behind the team and the players and they’re going to need to feel that support and to feel that warmth.
“This is a relatively inexperienced group, I think the third least caps in the tournament.
“It was a young team against Scotland so that’s a different experience for a lot of them than they’ve ever faced before.
“They’ve just about survived it.
“We want to be better and that’s what we’re going to work through in the next few days before we play the Czech Republic.”
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