Southgate Vows Improvement After Iceland Defeat Ahead Of Euro 2024.
England head coach Gareth Southgate acknowledged that he “completely” understood the fans’ negative reaction to his team’s 1-0 friendly loss to Iceland on Friday night but promised that the Three Lions would be “better” at Euro 2024.
In their final warm-up match before the continental championships, eight years after being embarrassingly knocked out of Euro 2016 by Iceland, England delivered a lackluster performance at Wembley, succumbing to a goal from Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson.
As expected, the Three Lions dominated possession against Age Hareide’s side but managed only one shot on target throughout the entire match, often struggling to penetrate the Icelandic defense.
A few crucial blocks and saves by Aaron Ramsdale prevented an energetic Iceland from extending their lead in the second half, while Harry Kane uncharacteristically missed the hosts’ best chance in the first half, volleying off target from a few yards out.
The home crowd expressed their discontent with boos at halftime, and the final whistle was also met with jeers, though many fans had already left the stadium before the end.
Southgate: “We will be better against Serbia”
England now have just over a week to analyze their lackluster performance before facing Serbia in their opening Euro 2024 fixture on June 16. Southgate has assured fans that they will see a “better” Three Lions team at the Veltins-Arena.
“I’m confident we will be better against Serbia in our opening game. I completely understand that we didn’t play well enough to keep the crowd excited,” Southgate told The Mirror.
“You want a good performance and an entertained crowd to leave on a high before the Euros, and we clearly weren’t at the level we needed to be. It was far from an ideal night, and I’m not going to disguise the disappointment. We have to stay calm because we will be better against Serbia.”
One day after confirming his 26-man squad for the European Championships, Southgate was able to field a starting XI similar to what he plans for the Euros, with Kane, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden, and Declan Rice all returning to the lineup.
However, despite a few bright moments from players like Foden, Cole Palmer, and Anthony Gordon, England’s attacking efforts were largely unexciting, and Iceland found it far too easy to take shots from range.
Southgate: ‘Iceland defeat will focus our minds’
While admitting that England’s display was “disjointed and disappointing,” Southgate emphasized that the loss could be seen as a positive, helping his team “focus their minds” and avoid complacency at the Euros.
“In a way, it will focus the mind and shows that any complacency, or thinking that talent alone will win us this trophy, won’t be enough,” the 53-year-old said.
“We have to be spot-on to win every game at this level. Iceland deserved to win, but it will focus our minds that we have to do better next weekend. It was a disjointed and disappointing performance, and we didn’t show enough character.
“It’s not perfect, but I’ve been involved in many of these final matches before a tournament as a player. No excuses for the result, but there are many things we can fix quickly. There were questions asked that we weren’t able to answer.”
Southgate also provided an injury update on center-backs John Stones and Marc Guehi, with the former sustaining an ankle injury and the latter taking a blow to the head.
