Gareth Southgate believes England have “hit a sweet spot” a year out from the European Championship but says there can be no let-up as his talented, ever-improving group hunt silverware.
Monday’s 7-0 annihilation of North Macedonia means it is a case of when rather than if their place at next summer’s finals in Germany is rubber-stamped.
Bukayo Saka sparkled with a hat-trick at Old Trafford as England headed on the road for a home match for the first time since last June’s humbling at the hands of Hungary.
The 4-0 Molineux mauling in the Nations League led fans to turn on Southgate, who took that in mind when considering his future after the World Cup.
But that low, combined with the frustration of bowing out in the quarter-finals in Qatar, has helped sharpen England’s focus as they look to win next year’s Euros, having lost in the final of the previous edition on penalties.
“I think when you look back at last summer, four matches, a couple of them behind closed doors, the need to rotate the squad, need to look at new players, there were a lot of circumstances as we knew at the time around those performances and results,” Southgate said of their Nations League struggles last June.
“Post World Cup, I think we’ve hit a sweet spot where there’s a hunger to go further than we’ve been and a desire to keep pushing forward.
“But a confidence from the matches that we’ve played and the big nights we’ve been involved with, and the ability that they know they have, so that’s a good place to be.
“We have to keep pushing them now because they’ve set a standard in the last four games against different sorts of opponents, different environments, where anything can be possible.
“I think they’ve been really good to watch, they’ve been exciting to watch, there’s competition for individual places, there’s competition to get in the squad.
“But around all of that there’s a brilliant feel with them as a group and that is what creates a strong team.
“I think the crowd have connected with that, the crowd was brilliant from before kick-off tonight.”
Saka’s first career hat-trick, a Harry Kane brace and goals from Marcus Rashford and Kalvin Phillips wowed the Old Trafford crowd on Monday night.
It was England’s fourth win from four Group C matches – a pool that started with an impressive 2-1 victory against Euro 2020 final foes Italy in Naples.
That result set the tone for a side that has steadily built the kind of mentality that means they head into matches expecting, rather than hoping, to win.
View this post on Instagram“100 per cent,” Southgate said. “That’s experiences with their club, but also as a collective because we’ve always had moments where clubs have done well.
“But then how do you match that in when Declan (Rice) first played with us. I remember the Nations League semi-final with Holland, it’s the biggest game of his life, he’s still learning his trade and still learning the position.
“Now he’s played a European final for us, European final for his club, big nights for us.
“The experiences they have together are more important, but you can’t take out the confidence that, if you’re a European champion, as the Manchester City boys arrive here (as), then they’re carrying that into the camp as well.
“But what they did, they didn’t come like a load of big shots and say, ‘We’re European champions’.
“They got straight on to the training pitch, mucked in, supported the group from the side in Malta, and then they perform (against North Macedonia).”
The shared experiences across multiple tournaments and qualification campaigns have also seen players’ caps quietly stack up.
Despite not having any centurions, England’s starting line-up against Macedonia was their second-most experienced ever, with the combined 590 caps only beaten by 595 against Algeria in 2010.
“We’ve known that accumulating caps is one thing, but accumulating big game experience is another,” said Southgate, whose most-capped player is 84-cap skipper Kane.
“And also, the really pleasing thing is that we’ve got a lot of young players with a lot of caps as well.
“So, it’s not that this team is just this next summer and nothing else. We want it to be sustainable for England, we want England to be challenging for as long as we can see.
View this post on Instagram“That’s also an important part of what we need to do, so we have to keep bringing young players into the squad, give them a feel of what it means to play in this group and evolve the team as we go.“There’s that competition now and that drives the players.
“They’ll listen to what you say as a coach, but if there are other players in your position that you know are hunting you down and after your spot, then that drives your performance.”
Conte slams transfer market timing after comeback Parma win
Antonio Conte was displeased with the transfer market deadline due to potential injury risks after their 2-1 win over Parma.
Debutant Romelu Lukaku and midfielder Andre Zambo Anguissa scored stoppage-time goals to earn the Italian his second victory as Napoli head coach, and provisionally move fourth in the standings.
However, he was concerned about not having squad depth while dealing with last-minute changes made to his team due to the transfer window closing on Friday, leaving him hoping his players can remain fit.
"We take these three points knowing full well that we have to work after this absurdity of the transfer market," Conte told reporters.
"Coaches have to train players who are going to leave and wait for players we've never worked with and don't know in what condition they'll be when they arrive.
"We had zero midfielders on the bench today, as yesterday [Gennaro] Iaccarino and [Coli] Saco went on loan. We had to pray that nothing happened to [Stanislav] Lobotka and Anguissa.
"I hope that things can change in the future, seeing as everyone is ready to change formats and rules."
Conte added he was pleased with Napoli's transfer window, as they added Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour to their ranks on Friday, despite the failure of Victor Osimhen's move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli.
"We did not just bring in players to build on an existing team but to fill certain empty slots, and I am happy with the work done by the club," he said.
"If we had been able to sell Osimhen, it would've been an even better situation, but what happened cannot be changed, and we move on."
Chicago Fire 1-4 Inter Miami: Suarez on target once more in road win
Luis Suarez scored two and orchestrated another as Inter Miami cruised to a 4-1 win over Chicago Fire at Soldier Field on Saturday.
His shot led to the opening own goal before his second-half double put the game out of reach as Miami stretched their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to nine points.
Suarez played a neat one-two with Diego Gomez to set up a strike from the edge of the box, and though Chris Brady did well to save it, he pushed it straight against Tobias Salquist, who chested it over the line 25 minutes in.
The Uruguayan thumped a free header against the bar minutes later, but finally got his reward just after the break – he raced in behind before slotting a neat shot in at the near post.
Alba then picked him out for his second in the 65th minute, fizzing a low cross into the six-yard box for him to guide past Brady.
Gomez was unlucky from distance as his drilled shot hit the inside of the post before Georgios Koutsias' instinctive close-range finish beat Drake Callender.
Substitute Robert Taylor then rounded off the scoring with a lovely first-time finish in stoppage time.
Data Debrief: Suarez continues to step up in Messi's absence
Miami have now been without their talisman Lionel Messi for three months due to the Copa America and an ankle injury, but Suarez has proven once again that they still pose a threat without him.
He has scored four times from a total of 12 shots since MLS resumed, with nine of those coming in this game.
The 37-year-old ran the show, leading the team in expected goals (1.4), shots on target (five), touches in the box (eight) and big chances (four).
Fonseca shrugs off talk of rift with Milan duo
Paulo Fonseca was quick to dismiss talk of any tension with Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez, who both appeared to snub him shortly after coming off the bench.
The pair came off the bench to help earn a 2-2 draw with Lazio on Saturday, being brought on in a quadruple change by Fonseca after being left out of the starting line-up.
Milan were losing 2-1 at the time of their introduction, and they immediately turned things around, with Hernandez and debutant Tammy Abraham, another substitute, involved in Leao's equaliser.
Minutes later, the game stopped for a cooling break, with both managers using the opportunity to instruct their players, but both Leao and Hernandez remained on the far side of the pitch, taking no part in the team talk.
"The situation with Theo and Leao, there is no problem and I think Theo has already explained," Fonseca told DAZN.
"We don't need to create any problems. This week I spoke with the players and they accepted my decision. There is no problem, I was concentrated, and I didn't see that they weren't there."
Hernandez had already given his reasons immediately after the game.
"We had been on for two minutes, we didn't need the cooling break," Hernandez said.
"It was nothing against the team and the coach. Then people talk, say things that aren't true. Rafa and I are always with the team to help, and that is the important thing."
Milan are still without a league win this season after three games, but Fonseca says he saw a decent performance in the opening half, giving him something to work on.
"We had a good first half. We always managed the game well with the ball. When you control the game like this, we have to have more moments to become dangerous, but it's something we have to work on," Fonseca told Milan TV.
"We must always have the courage we had in the first half because we did good things. If we had won the other two games, this could have been a good result, but it is not so. But we have to start from today's first half."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
