England squad give Southgate unequivocal backing after 4-0 defeat
England squad give Gareth Southgate unequivocal backing and feel criticism after dismal summer should be levelled at THEM instead of their manager
- There have been plenty of questions about Gareth Southgate after defeat
- But players including Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling were vocally supportive
- Group are unoquivocally backing the manager as the right man to lead them
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Gareth Southgate has the unequivocal backing of his squad – who believe they should be taking the rap for England’s dismal summer.
The national team boss also has the Football Association’s full support ahead of the World Cup despite a hugely disappointing set of results and performances from June’s Nations League fixtures.
Southgate has come underfire in recent days after his team failed to record a single victory in the four games against Hungary (twice), Germany and Italy – a stretch in which they also failed to score a goal from open play.
Gareth Southgate’s squad think the criticism of the manager has been unfair
He was abused by fans during the humiliating 4-0 loss to Hungary on Tuesday night with a large number of supporters calling for Southgate to be sacked.
There is no danger of the FA listening to those furious supporters with the thought of a managerial change ahead of Qatar 2022 not even on the governing body’s radar.
During his post-match address to his players at Molineux on Tuesday night, Southgate, who signed a new four year deal in November, told his players, who were said to be shell-shocked at the result, that he should shoulder the blame for the disappointing results because he chose to experiment in certain matches.
Intriguingly, Southgate’s decision to map out in advance a strategy for his team selections for the four games has led to some surprise among certain players who believed they would be featuring in certain matches only to miss out.
Harry Kane and Co were battered 4-0 by Hungary in a dreadful performance and result
But by and large, there is a feeling within the squad that the latest criticism towards Southgate is unfair and that they should be the ones feeling the heat from disgruntled fans.
There is an acceptance within the squad that their performances this month have been below what is expected. There is also a feeling that the week off that the majority of England players had between the end of the domestic season and joining up for international duty negatively impacted on their physical preparations for the Nations League ties.
‘If you look at the steps that he’s [Southgate] made over the last couple of tournaments, semi-final and a final, I think a Nations League couple of bad results is not something that we can judge him on,’ said Raheem Sterling.
‘He’s led us incredibly well. This is down to the players to take this one on the chin, assess ourselves and come back.’
Raheem Sterling was among the players to leap to Southgate’s defence on Tuesday
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