England Merchandise England Tickets
Published 01 July 2021 3 min read
England Men's Senior Team

Southgate on the pod

Written by:

Tom Dean

The boss shares his formula for success and the challenge that lies ahead 
The man with the plan, Gareth Southgate, took some time out to join the Official England Podcast and share some of his wisdom ahead of Ukraine on Saturday. 
 
After a historic win over Germany, much of the focus has been on red-hot Raheem Sterling and captain Harry Kane but to the credit of England’s defenders, we are still yet to concede a goal at the tournament.
 
That is something that has been the focus of Southgate’s attention and comes directly from his own experiences as a player. 
 
The former England defender accumulated 57 caps across a nine-year international career, representing his country at four major tournaments and has distinct memories of what it feels like to be chasing the ball. 
 
Southgate’s team selection has so far reflected that and the England boss was keen to share the reasoning behind that when he appeared on the Official England Podcast on Thursday. 
 
“History tells you that in big matches, defences are often critical but not to the detriment of everything else,” he said. 
 
“We wanted our wing backs to play high [against Germany] and get more men in the box than the previous games. We are looking really deeply at tactical things and I know that will sometimes frustrate supporters, when the team doesn't play forward. 
 
“We are trying to be a team that has the patience to retain the ball because I played for years with England and we kept giving the ball away and chasing it in the heat - it was a big problem. 
 
“I think there are times when we can play forward a bit earlier but also retaining the ball at different moments of the games and giving yourself a breather is really important.”
01 Jul 2021

Inside Training

Pool Volleyball, Worldie Saves, Foden's Backheel & Recovery

The other well-documented feature of Southgate’s squad management is the overall positive vibe and feeling of togetherness he’s been able to knit into the players. 

It’s no easy task to ensure 26 professional athletes stay happy while focusing on some of the biggest games of their careers and yet the England boss has done it again, just as he did in Russia three years ago. 

“I think it’s critical when you’re away for such a long time. When dealing with 26 players, 15 guys can’t start and they are used to starting every week for their clubs. 

“I’m sure people listening to that will think ‘get on with it, you’re at the EUROs’ but it’s an unusual situation for highly-trained competitive players. That’s not their usual dynamic so it can be very difficult to get to the end of a week and not have any minutes.

“So it's a huge credit to them as a group and the respect they’ve got for one another. I think they’ve all helped to create that. We’ve got fantastic staff that help as well.”

Germany at Wembley represented the poignant of challenges for Southgate but now attention turns to the quarter-final against Ukraine in Rome - a different prospect altogether.

“This is a big challenge for us. We’ve got to go away from Wembley, to somewhere where there might not be many fans, it’s quite hot, and play an opponent where not many of their players are known to us.

“And then there is this perception now that all we’ve got to do is turn up and we’re on our way. So there is total focus now on Saturday, we need to prepare the right way, and our mentality will be critical.”

UKRAINE STAT PACK