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John Stones has tested Gareth Southgate’s patience and is about to do it again.
The 26-year-old hoped to banish any lingering fears that he remains error-prone after fully deserving his call-up to the England squad following a stellar run of form with Manchester City. Injury permitting, Stones is still the favorite to start England’s Euro 2020 opener against Croatia alongside Harry Maguire, but as was the case Wednesday in the 2-1 win over Poland, his confidence in the Most important moments must still be trusted. .
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It is important to remember that Southgate will not view his latest mistake in isolation. England exited the 2019 Nations League semi-finals after a similar error against the Netherlands, which added to a growing catalog, and while the Stones survived to win one more call-up, they were then left out of the configuration for 16 months. while it disappeared in the hierarchical order in City.
Pep Guardiola’s team is on track to regain the Premier League title in large part due to the remarkable revival of the Stones, and even after making a mistake here at Wembley, the center-back partly made up for himself by coming back from the corner kick. in the 85th minute from Phil Foden to Harry Maguire. to launch a shot to the ceiling of the net and avoid the blush of England.
“All the players are going to make mistakes in the games and sometimes they will be punished and sometimes not. What you are looking for is that reaction and see how they respond. It would be easy to withdraw in those moments and John did not. It was an important factor for us to stay. in the game, his reaction and that was important, the whole team showed that kind of response.
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“He had a good season and made a mistake tonight, he knows it, but he recovered during the game and he has to keep doing it.”
But Southgate already harbors concerns about the fragility of England’s defense – it’s the reason they opted for a 3-5-2 system at the 2018 World Cup and largely explains the use of a 3-4-2- 1 on several occasions since then, and the Stones gifting Poland their tie will do little to allay those fears.
Picking up the ball from goalkeeper Nick Pope, Stones turned and was hit hard, allowing Jakub Moder to cut the ball off him. Substitute Arkadiusz Milik slipped a pass back to Moder, who fired a tie to Pope.
England deserve credit for finding a way to win, but just as they needed a set piece to produce a winner (their reliance on dead ball situations was bordering on excessive in Russia), they required a soft penalty to take the lead. . first. Raheem Sterling drove into the box and fell with minimal contact from Michal Helik, and Kane converted the ensuing penalty in the 19th minute for his 34th England goal.
Despite their lively attacking play – Foden, Mason Mount and Kane combined excellently on more than one occasion – England were unable to translate their first-half superiority onto the scoreboard in a more meaningful way.
John Stones’ latest mistake won’t help him cement his starting place for Euro 2020, but he deserves credit for responding to aiding in the winning goal. ANDY RAIN / POOL / AFP Photo via Getty Images
And when Poland improved, emboldened by that draw, England worked. Southgate and his assistant Steve Holland pay particular attention to detail in every facet of the game, so it was surprising to see them engage in a long conversation, seemingly suffering inertia, during a sustained period in the second half in which this game threatened to end. Far from them.
It’s tempting to think that it might as well have happened if Robert Lewandowski had been playing. With the Bayern Munich striker absent due to a knee injury, Poland lacked the power to capitalize on their biggest possession.
England began to look a bit tired. Ten of this starting lineup also started Sunday’s 2-0 win over Albania and it showed. The return of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish will improve Southgate’s options, but it felt telling that he didn’t turn to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jesse Lingard, Ollie Watkins or Jude Bellingham when the team needed to revitalize itself.
The England coach has some tough decisions ahead of him, made even more demanding by the knowledge that team management will be more vital this summer than ever given the accumulated fatigue arising from a condensed domestic schedule due to COVID-19. England have routinely battled fatigue in the second half of tournament matches. Former Three Lions boss Sven-Goran Eriksson summed it up best: “The first half is good, the second is not so good.”
Southgate and the Netherlands came up with a specific plan to counter this ahead of Russia, giving players a week off in a staggered strategy depending on when a player’s club commitments ended, but there are only three weeks between the final round of match matches. the Premier League and England’s First Match. Participation in the Champions League and Europa League finals will further narrow the gap.
“We will keep looking to do that. Of course, it seems highly unlikely that they can leave. But I think they need a rest period,” Southgate said when asked about preparations leading up to the Euro.
“Psychologically, they would need that break. Under normal circumstances, clearly there are potentially five or six attacking players that we could have refreshed the team. [with] in all three games. Even though 45 minutes in the first game seems like nothing, as you progress towards the end of the third game, all of those things take their toll.
“We knew they were important qualifiers, we had to push. We recovered and took care of the players in the best possible way, but when summer comes we will have more options to refresh ourselves during the games and make those changes that will allow us to rotate.” the template a bit more. That is going to be key. “
It’s easy to only look inward when discussing England’s shortcomings given the national thirst to triumph in the tournament, but Germany provided important context the same night here, losing 2-1 at home to North Macedonia. England avoided such embarrassment in the past week, dispatching San Marino, Albania and Poland to go two points clear at the top of Group I of World Cup qualification and head towards qualification.
But Southgate will not be tried for that. Instead, England have to build on the progress they have undoubtedly made and for that it will be critical to find a defense that can withstand more difficult tasks than this.
The debate continues over his first-choice full-backs with Ben Chilwell selected ahead of Luke Shaw, Kyle Walker beating Reece James, Kieran Trippier an unused substitute and Trent Alexander-Arnold excluded entirely. The central defender is also still uncertain and so close to the final, that’s really not ideal.
Source: espn.co.uk
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