England star Conor Coady ‘massively offended’ by widespread criticism

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England star Conor Coady has admitted he is “massively” offended by criticism of the Three Lions’ backline heading into the World Cup. The Everton centre-back insists his country’s defensive record in recent tournaments has been fantastic.

England head to Qatar with a number of question marks over their defensive structure and personnel. Harry Maguire has made the trip but has barely featured for club side Manchester United this season.

Kyle Walker is not fit for the opening match against Iran, while Reece James and Ben Chilwell are both out of the tournament through injury. There are also questions on whether Gareth Southgate will play with a back three or back four.

England had a shocking Nations League campaign, including a 4-0 home defeat to Hungary in June. But Coady says it is not fair to say the defence is a weakness for the Three Lions.

When asked if he is offended by the criticism, Coady said: “Massively because I’m a defender! So you don’t like hearing things like that and we read and we see and we listen to absolutely everything.

England participate in second training session in Qatar

“We know as a team how we want to play, how we want to defend, what we want to do. The defensive record over the last few years has been absolutely fantastic in terms of how we try to go about it.

“So it’s important we keep on focusing on ourselves and like I say, we read and we see everything. We look at ourselves every single day in training to try and help and improve each other, as well as yourself individually as well.

“So we’ll keep on concentrating on ourselves and then hopefully go into the tournament full of confidence.”

Coady didn’t play a single minute at Euro 2020 as England lost to Italy in the final. And he admits he gets plenty of stick for his role in the squad.

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He added: “I get loads [of stick], loads about different things. But it’s the most exciting time in the world for everybody.

“The World Cup comes around every four years and it’s something that we all look forward to, and I’m no different. I’m just lucky enough that I get to come and play with these fantastic players, get to come and work with a fantastic manager and all his staff, and enjoy every minute of it.

“Like I’ve said before, and I’ve said plenty of times, I’ll come and give the best of myself every single day. If I’m called upon, fantastic, I will be there to help as much as I can and we’ll see where it goes.

“We’re all here for one thing, to do well in the World Cup and to push our country as far as we can possibly go.”

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