Gareth Southgate has said that England‘s underwhelming group stage campaign will quickly be forgotten if they spark into life by beating Slovakia in their round-of-16 clash.
England topped Group C to set up Sunday’s game in Gelsenkirchen but only recorded one victory and scored just two goals in games against Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia.
England were booed off by supporters after drawing their last two matches. Criticism grew both of Southgate’s management and disappointing individual displays from several top stars including Phil Foden and Harry Kane.
However, England’s performance level in the knockout stages increased significantly at their previous two tournaments — beating Senegal 3-0 at the 2022 World Cup and Germany 2-0 at the last Euros.
When asked if anyone would care about the group phase if they succeed from here on in, Southgate said: “That is the reality and of course we have to deliver it. The fact is you go into a different mental state.
“Everybody knows that knockout football is jeopardy, everybody knows that on a given day, an opponent can make it really tough for you.
“You know the quality of the opposition left is high and so it changes the mindset. It is about ‘how far can we go?’
“We are trying to achieve something exceptional. But it is a step at a time and tomorrow is a chance to improve aspects of our game, to show composure in moments.
“The game will take us in different directions at different moments and you’ve got to be able to respond and react in the right way in all of those moments. We have thrived in those challenges in the past and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.
“Of course you have to get through that first phase and there are moments within that where…always in that second [group] game, if you keep pushing, you could lose a game and if you get a point you know you’re through, so that affects some of the actions at certain moments.
“Now you’re into that world of it has to happen on the day. You’ve got to go for it. We’ve been here before many times, we know what it entails and I think everybody’s excited now about the challenge.”
Southgate confirmed that Luke Shaw will not be able to start as the Manchester United defender continues his recovery from a hamstring injury but Kieran Trippier is available despite managing a calf problem.
Foden is also in contention after briefly returning to the UK following the birth of his third child earlier this week.
Jude Bellingham, who turned 21 on Saturday, admitted he felt “absolutely dead” after England played Slovenia on Tuesday but Southgate played down fears the Real Madrid midfielder is physically short of his best.
“I think when you’re walking off a pitch and you’ve given everything you’re inevitably going to feel physically in a certain way, and perhaps emotionally in a certain way.
“He missed the period towards the end of the season with an ankle injury and then towards the end of the season he didn’t play every game because they were preparing for a Champions League final.”
“I think he will have benefited from the matches we’ve had and then the recovery period in between, as have a number of players really.
“But of course we’ve always got to be mindful of the quality we have to be able to come into the game, the freshness, how freshness might make a difference in the latter stages of matches. But I’m not concerned about where he’s at in terms of his condition at all.
“We didn’t get a crate of beer out this morning, that’s for sure. It’s also Eberechi Eze‘s birthday today and obviously Phil Foden has another addition to the household as well in the last few days, so there’s been a lot to celebrate and a good feel about the camp.”
Despite England’s substandard performances at Euro 2024, Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona warned of the threat they still pose.
“I think that when England give great performances as a group, they will become unbeatable,” he said.
“We need to make the most of everything that they could concede, but we need to be very careful because they have a top quality squad.
“I think that they have the best squad of the Euros because they have physicality, technique and also creativeness.
“They left important players at home because they have so much quality to pick from.
“So we need to make the most of their weak points and their concessions, but we also need to be cautious because this is a team that can punish you at any moment.”
