Bouncing back
Despite the initial disappointment of their semi-final defeat against Croatia, Gareth Southgate revealed that spirits are still high among the England ranks ahead of Saturday’s game. "In terms of mentality, it's been a really difficult couple of days for us,” he said. “We were 20 minutes from a World Cup Final and then ten minutes from a shootout. But the players have been incredible, they're a pleasure to work with and their energy this [Friday] morning was fantastic. We have a desire to end the tournament really well. We feel we owe it as much to ourselves and our public and nation, as much as anyone else.”
Selection time
The Three Lions boss had the relative luxury of being able to name an unchanged line-up in all three of his team’s knock-out games against Colombia, Sweden and Croatia. And despite all 23 of his players training on Friday ahead of this match, Southgate was keeping his cards close to his chest with regards selection for Saturday. "Everybody has trained, but we have to decide who can go again, physically," he revealed. "Everyone wants to play, but sometimes it's not always a good idea to play if your energy is not quite there. It won't be exactly the same starting eleven, but ideally, we want to make as few changes as possible.”
Chance of a medal
This year saw England’s first semi-final appearance in a senior men’s World Cup in 28 years and the class of 2018 now have a chance to eclipse the 1990 group if they can beat Belgium and clinch third place. And with a bronze medal on offer after the game, Southgate wants to see his men continue to make history and what would be England’s second-best World Cup performance since 1966. "We want to finish the tournament well,” he added. “We've set a standard in how we work and how we play and we want to aspire to that level every time we go out. We have high motivation to perform and the chance to win a medal at a World Cup, which only one other English team has done, so there's a lot of motivation for us. And Belgium have beaten us once already so we'd like to address that.”
Building for the future
After a World Cup campaign which exceeded the expectations placed by many on his team, Southgate has now urged his players to make the most of their experiences in Russia and aim to go better next time. "This group will be stronger in two years’ time, because of their age and because of the big-match experiences which we've now been through. Along with the great experiences here and painful experiences of last time, it builds a resilience in them as a group. We have to build on that and we have a responsibility to build on that.”
Continuity is key
The spirit within the England squad that has been built and fostered over the last 18-months has become even stronger during the group’s time together in Russia. And following the switch in formation which Southgate first introduced after qualification was secured late last year, he’s hopeful that the players can evolve further as a group both on the pitch and off it. “There’s a culture that exists now that when we come together, we expect every new player to follow. We need to keep continually improving. We had had six matches playing with this system [before the World Cup] and players are now a lot clearer in what they're doing. Now we can look at other things moving forward.”
