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England manager Gareth Southgate praised his team’s professionalism after they completed their Nations League campaign with a resounding 4-0 victory over Iceland at Wembley.
Phil Foden starred in, scoring two late goals after Declan Rice and Mason Mount had hit the back of the net earlier.
The Manchester City forward had made his debut against Iceland in September before being sent home for violating Covid-19 regulations and being eliminated for the triple header from the England games the following month as part of his punishment.
But he came back with a bang and his latest series of good finishes capped a happy ending to the year for Southgate and his team as they secured victory in what was a dead rubber, given that the weekend’s loss to Belgium meant that England could not qualify for the final. .
With Rice and Mount on the roster and decent performances from players like Bukayo Saka and Jack Grealish, Southgate was delighted with the collective effort of his young stars against Iceland, but highlighted the impact that the older members of the team have had lately.
“I think we are very aware of the arrival of a group of young players who we think will be fabulous for England in the years to come,” he said.
“ I think it was great for the public to get a glimpse of that and they were surrounded by great professionals and those senior players have been outstanding, in the last few months in particular.
“In the last three days they really set the tone; It would have been easy for us not to perform well tonight. There were every possible excuse for not performing well.
“But that was not the mentality of the seniors and I have to say that the captain led that from the beginning, he directed the training, you could see his mentality for the game.”
From the Harry Maguire case in the Greek court and Mason Greenwood and Foden’s high-profile biological infraction to injury headaches, empty bleachers and his own coronavirus outbreak, this has been a rough fall for Southgate.
But seeing Foden blossom into a bona fide England international at least ended it on a positive note.
“Tonight’s performance is the reason we chose him in September because we know what he’s capable of,” he said of the 20-year-old.
“I am very happy for him and his family, having the experience he had in September is really difficult for a young man and we all make mistakes.
“What we intended to do was make sure that when he came in this month in a difficult situation, you walk in the door and look at everyone’s faces and you know the last time you saw them it was complicated.
“ I think it took him a few days to settle into camp and start smiling and relaxing a little more, then tonight we felt it was a really good game for him.
“We know what he is capable of and he will be one of those who will be exciting for England for years to come.”
Despite the obvious positives, Southgate still highlighted the fact that recent camps have been damaged by the off-field behaviors of some of his players, and called for improvements in that area going forward.
“We have been very, very close to achieving the goal,” he added. But we must also recognize that there are lessons to be learned from this period. We created dramas for ourselves on and off the court, which made life more difficult.
“We haven’t been anywhere close to having all of our players available and we have to see why this has been the case and reflect on that, so that’s the balance.”
Icelandic coach Erik Hamren was equally impressed by England, but believes Euro 2020 may come too early for Southgate’s young talents and believes they may need more time to develop before competing for honors.
“I think they can be good in the summer,” he said. “They have a good mix, but if you look, then win something, a big tournament, maybe they need to wait a few more years until those young people now show up.
“They are really good, so maybe in four or five years there will be a superior team, that’s my opinion.”
The game also brought down the curtain on Hamren’s reign as head of Iceland.
The 63-year-old chose to resign after losing the Euro 2020 play-off to Hungary last week, before his father died over the weekend.
“It has been a difficult few days, the defeat against Hungary was very difficult for me, the staff and the players,” he added.
“ We had a good game against Denmark, but not today; then my father too, yes, they have been many emotional days and that will be the same when I say goodbye to the staff and the players because I really like them and I did. good job with them.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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