Southgate and Rice dismiss critics ahead of England's must-win Slovenia clash
24/06/2024
uefa24
Cologne Stadium, Germany
24/06/2024
uefa24
Cologne Stadium, Germany
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Gareth, after the last game you said that you felt your team wasn't functioning and
00:12it was your responsibility to find solutions. Have you had time to do that and are you expecting
00:19an improved performance tomorrow night?
00:23Yes, we have had time on the training pitch and plenty of discussions with the players.
00:32Obviously, whatever I say is fairly irrelevant. We have to go and produce it on the pitch.
00:37We're very clear on where we need to be better. We haven't hidden from that. I think we have a
00:44very open dialogue, players, staff, and we're all on the same page on that. The route forward
00:52was pretty simple to highlight. Of course, then we've got to go and deliver it. I'm expecting
01:01that we will do that tomorrow.
01:04Front row here, please.
01:10Hi, question for Dex and Rats. Good to see you. During the permanent season with Arsenal,
01:16your first season there, Mikel Arteta, your manager, moved you slightly a bit further forward.
01:21We saw the outcome, you had protection with Jorginho, etc. Do you think with England as well
01:26that is something that could help you and the midfielder area as well to get the best out of you?
01:33I only actually moved into the eight position after Christmas. I played my first six, seven months
01:38as a number six under Mikel. My first ever discussions with him were for me to go to
01:44Arsenal and play as a number six. That's where he sees me as my best position. I think as we
01:50started to train more, play more, he liked me in the eight role as well. It also gave us a little
01:55bit more balance when Jorginho played. I can play both. I'm happy to play eight, I'm happy to play
02:00six. For England, the majority, I've always played number six and I've loved every single
02:05minute of it. But obviously, it's the manager's decision, whatever he sees. I'll always go out
02:10there and give 100% no matter what.
02:15A question to Declan Ronendorf on Israel today. Without any disrespect, Slovenia don't have any
02:21Premier League players and very few Champions League players. How difficult is it to play
02:26good players who you don't know, really?
02:29I've watched Slovenia, their first two group games, and they've actually been really, really
02:35good. A lot of strong players, really fast. Obviously, the main talking point is Cesco,
02:40the boy who plays up front. He's been a massive target for clubs around Europe.
02:44Tomorrow's going to be really tough. When you play teams like Slovenia,
02:49you know what you're going to get. They're going to come at us, they're going to want to win the
02:52game, they're going to want to shock the world. Tomorrow's a chance for us as a group to bounce
02:58back from the other night. I think that's the beauty of football, that you always get another
03:02chance to go again. Tomorrow night, we have that chance to put the last two games behind us and
03:07move forward in a positive way, which is really good.
03:14A question to Gareth and to Declan. Both your captain and Declan have come out fighting for
03:20their team-mates under criticism and to back you, Gareth. We've watched Scotland go home after
03:27an opening match has failed to get themselves to their best level. How much is a warning
03:34to you all as you go out into this next match and then into the knockout stage
03:39to leave it all out there on the pitch? How is the mood in the camp now?
03:45The mood's very good. We know that the world we live in, there's always been external noise,
03:55but external noise shouldn't affect us. What's important is the internal. We're the only ones
04:03that can perform on the pitch. We're the only ones that can work together to get those performances
04:08better, and performance is what we're focusing on. The results have pretty much put us in the
04:17next round already, and it's now about can we win the group? But of course, we want to hit a
04:23different level to the level that we've hit so far. The lead-in to this wasn't straightforward
04:31into the prep camps, into the first two games, so there are some mitigating factors, but we're not
04:37hiding from anything and we're not making any excuses at all. That's not the culture we have
04:42as a group. So there's been very honest appraisal of what we've done and very clear on where we
04:52need to be better and how we're going to do that for tomorrow, which tactically is a different game
04:56anyway. But there are some fundamentals of how we've played over a long period of time that we
05:03need to get back to.
05:09I think what Gareth just said. I think as a group, obviously now Gareth's got his leadership group,
05:16we've had great internal discussions. I think that's such a good thing that Gareth has with
05:22the group is that we're all so open and so honest, and if something's not right on the
05:26football pitch, we'll review it, we'll go over it, and we'll be better for it. I was thinking
05:31back to it earlier, I think I said it to the writers, this tournament's gone very similar
05:35in a way to the previous two tournaments I've played in where we won our first two group games
05:41at the World Cup and the Euro21. We then didn't have the best performances against Scotland and
05:45USA, but then we bounced back with a really positive performance against Wales at the World
05:49Cup and then the Czech Republic at Wembley. So tomorrow night we're really ready. We want to top
05:55the group, we want to have seven points, and it's a chance to start looking forward in a positive way.
06:08There have been a lot of talks about midfield and the way you guys have been playing.
06:12I'm curious about what have you seen from the pitch about your midfield?
06:17I've seen players that want to take the ball, want to be positive. I've seen players that have
06:24given everything even though it hasn't gone the way we've wanted to so far. I think that's a
06:29non-negotiable when you put on an England shirt. Of course we want to dominate the game more,
06:34but as I was saying to Gareth earlier, you're coming up against well-cast players now all the
06:40time. I think a lot of people think because we're England you should go out there and win
06:45games 4-5-0. The reality of it is you play a Denmark team that got to the semi-finals
06:50of the Euros two or three years ago with some top, top players. You play a Serbia team,
06:54they've got top Champions League, Premier League players. It's about getting that balance of what
07:00we want. I know as a group, I know individually, we can get better and I'm sure we will as the
07:05tournament keeps going on.
07:08Gentleman in the white shirt who had his hand up before, please.
07:15Hello, this is Erik from Norwegian NRK. Question to Gareth about the... I can see that you and some
07:20players are using this, I think it's called an Aura ring. I was wondering what is the reason
07:25why you're using it and is it something you encourage your players to use? I don't think
07:31Declan is using it, but...
07:32I lost mine.
07:36Stones called it addictive, but you've got yours maybe.
07:40Yeah, I think the idea is it helps monitor your sleep, which is the biggest factor in terms of
07:50recovery. No matter what things are invented in the world, the best things to aid recovery are
07:57sleep and nutrition. We're not checking on the players, but it allows them to monitor their own
08:09recovery. As staff, we know, for example, getting home from the game the other night, a very late
08:16night, it might encourage you to go to sleep in the afternoon or recover a little bit more or
08:25spend some time just relaxing a bit more. So we're trying to manage people's energy through
08:30the tournament because, of course, the players have a heavy schedule, but when we get home at
08:35four o'clock in the morning, then the kit man has to go and wash the kit still at six or seven the
08:40next day. The analysts are reviewing the game from the night before and the next opponent
08:46immediately. The rest of our staff are all working hard, so they also need to look after themselves
08:53and that's something we take very importantly.
08:58Frida Fagerlund, Sweden, question for Gareth. Looking at the two first rounds of the group stage,
09:04you conceded the lowest expected goals, which obviously means that your opponents haven't
09:09really had a clear chance. Would you say that shows that parts of your play have actually
09:15worked pretty well?
09:17Yeah, I think that the game before the tournament against Iceland, we were a little bit open and
09:27we had players in the back line that hadn't had much football coming into the tournament, so
09:34we were trying to find the right balance of being aggressive, which is the way we started against
09:41Serbia, but then we also knew that against the teams that we'd been playing against, you have to
09:48be perfect defensively to keep clean sheets and that's an important part of tournaments, especially
09:55in the qualification group. You've got to defend well. Although we haven't used the ball as well
10:02as we'd have liked, our penalty box defending has been good. What we'd like to do is turn more
10:08balls over higher up the pitch and I guess that's one of the things we've been focusing on over the
10:13last few days. Defending is... There's many different aspects to that, but without a doubt,
10:21the defending of our goal and of our penalty box has been first class.
10:29Could I have your reaction to Gary Lineker's comments? You've obviously been criticised,
10:35faced criticism throughout your career, but this felt a little bit different. Is that maybe
10:39a danger of such prominent figures having their own channels? I haven't heard what he said.
10:48You can. Faye, in the interview, used one word. That's all I've heard.
10:56A prominent figure like that, criticising the England team like that,
11:01that seems unusual. That's not what you've had to face before.
11:06Well, I wouldn't agree with that.
11:10Look, that's the world we're in. I'm oblivious to it. It's not important to me at all.
11:17As I said, what's important to me is that I've got to guide this group of players
11:25confidently through the terrain that is a tournament. We're a high-profile team
11:31with expectations, and we fully understand everything we do is going to be scrutinised.
11:37I'm very comfortable living that life, but I don't need to engage in external,
11:43because I'm my own biggest critic, and I think our players are as well.
11:49There's nothing to be gained from us that's going to help improve us,
11:52listening to external criticism. We know what we've done well. We're very honest about that.
11:58We know where we need to be better. We're brutally honest about that,
12:02and that's how you work as a team. That's how you coach a team. That's how you improve performance.
12:11When England went out of Euro 2012, you were obviously in the studio with Roy Keane and
12:16Jamie Carragher in Warsaw, and you made the point that England looked physically drained
12:21and there were issues with possession. How much in 12 years have England moved on? Are there still
12:27issues endemic in the game? Because you made the point there are so many good foreign players
12:31in those positions in the game. Is that still an issue?
12:36I think we've had different cycles with this team and different moments with this team, so
12:42I don't think the performances over the last two matches, other than the first half an hour
12:49against Serbia, have reflected the way that we've played over the last couple of years.
12:54We've had a short period here where we're not quite functioning at the level we want to,
13:02and that's been a brilliant challenge to unpick that, to find the best way forward, to
13:11be honest about where we sat three or four days ago, but also be really clear on the path
13:17forward from that and the steps to improve performance.
13:24In that debrief, are we likely to see something different tomorrow, either tactically or in
13:34terms of personnel, or is it a case of doing what you've already tried better?
13:39Well, I'm clearly not going to go into detail on either of those things when the opposition are
13:45listening, so in the end our performance will have to speak for itself. I can stand here and
13:52sit here and talk as much as I like, but it's irrelevant until we go on the pitch and perform.
13:58Of course, it's important to answer the questions as thoroughly as I can, but ultimately I'm going
14:06to be judged on the way the team play, and I understand that and I'm comfortable with that.
14:11Hi Gareth, Uri Levy, Israel National Television. Before the tournament, England were tipped as
14:19main favourites to win this Euro, first for the country two matchdays in, and seeing the way
14:25Spain and Portugal even are playing, and the way England are playing, do you still think,
14:32or do you still believe, that meeting bigger teams further on, England still are the main
14:39favourites to win this Euro? It's also a question for Declan if you're willing to answer too.
14:45Well, we've always known that we are one of the teams that could win the tournament,
14:49and we also knew that Spain, France, Germany, Portugal, you've only got to look at the squads
14:57and the quality of players. You look at Croatia, who have to win tonight to stay in the tournament,
15:04that's the level of this competition. It's incredibly high, so we haven't changed our
15:12objectives, what's possible. We know to do that, we've got to find a different level
15:16to what we've shown so far, but I'm expecting that we'll do that.
15:26How will you make sure that you get the most out of a player like Phil Foden from now on?
15:32Do you consider playing him in a different role or position?
15:37Well, Phil has played in a lot of different positions for us. I think he was as big a
15:44threat on goal as anybody for us the other day. We know we need to create more as a team.
15:51It isn't about one player. This is often where we get drawn into the wrong discussions.
16:01This is about a team functioning, a team winning, a team having the right mentality,
16:06a team working together to get results. It's not about individuals. If it's about individuals,
16:11then you're not going to succeed. Our progress, our big nights, our exciting tournaments have
16:20been about a team. Yes, important players within that team, but the ethos of this group is about
16:29team. I've heard recently that you were asking for love from the media so the team can perform
16:48better, which makes sense. I've been to quite a few press conferences from different national
16:53teams and in fact some journalists in some countries do act like fans rather than journalists
16:59and they support, they give love unconditionally to the players. You perform in quite different
17:05media environments where journalists are more like journalists. So I would like to ask you,
17:11how would you like to see that balance? Would you like to have full support or would you like
17:15to be criticised? How do you see that? Yeah, look, I think the guys in here have
17:20probably been fair with what they've been saying because we're the ones that only go out there and
17:26have to perform and play well. First game we've done that. In spells, second game we didn't do
17:31that quite as well. So the expectation of what people are going to say is obviously going to be
17:36negative. I did come out and defend our front players because naturally as players you read
17:41stuff. Naturally as young players stuff can play on your mind and it's probably better to read
17:49a load of stuff that's way more positive than negative. You know, your players like your
17:53Phils, your Pacaios, your Judes. I always think that for me even as a player when I was captain
17:59at West Ham, even with me now at Arsenal, I like to encourage and tell people that they can be the
18:04best player on the pitch. What they do on the pitch and the qualities that they have can change games
18:09and I feel like the more you feel that as a player and within yourself, the more confident you're
18:13going to be going stepping out on the pitch and I feel like you'll see that tomorrow night as
18:18a group. I feel like we're going to be really confident and ready and hopefully after that
18:21we'll turn the page and things will start to look more positive.
18:26Gareth, can I just ask you for an injury update? Do you have a fully fit squad now and how close
18:31is Luke Shaw to getting some minutes? Yeah, Luke's the only one that is not really available.
18:39He'll possibly change with the team tomorrow but he's not quite ready to be involved in the game
18:46yet. I'm trying to make you laugh on this huge criticism. We've got in Italy 59 million
18:57of people and we say it's 59 million of coaches. How many coaches have you registered in your mind
19:05in the UK in the past few days? Very nice. As I said,
19:13the great thing about being in this job for a long time is I've managed to realise how to manage
19:22myself in the best way. A few years ago I would have read things, I would have listened to things
19:29and it would have saddened me and it would have taken energy from me.
19:35Now I have to cut myself off from it. I can't put myself in that position because you lose focus
19:41and you lose what's important. It gives me great perspective, it allows me to be,
19:48hopefully as I appear now with the team, they can see that in actual fact we're
19:55just thinking about how we improve things. We're composed in what we're trying to do.
20:02We never duck where we are as a team. I don't think anybody would have ever heard me say
20:08anything about any of our performances that was inaccurate or overly glossy.
20:17We're determined to progress. None of those things will change. I also know that,
20:26despite what the man in the front said, every other national coach is probably experiencing
20:32the same thing. I've seen that with Didier, I've seen that with everybody else.
20:36That's the modern world. It's not just the general media or the other media outlets,
20:45it's social media. It's a different environment. If you don't open yourself to it, it can't affect
20:53you.