DBasia.news – England national team coach, Gareth Southgate, gave his explanation regarding the reasons for the 1-2 defeat of England to the Czech Republic in the Euro 2020 Qualifying Cup match.
In the continued group A match, England lost 1-2 at Sinobo Stadium on Saturday (12/10) early morning Western Indonesian Time. Coming ahead of Harry Kane’s penalty (5′), the Three Lions were unable to stem the persistence of playing the Czechs who turned victorious via goals by Jakub Brabec (9′) and Zdenek Ondrasek (85′).
England dominates possession 56 compared to 44 percent of the host. But, the number of attempted kicks they lost to the Czechs, who released 17 kicks and eight of them were on target, while England only seven kicks (four on target).
Fortunately, England’s position remains at the top of Group A with 12 points from five matches that have been played. Their points are the same as the Czech Republic in second, but the Czech Republic has played six times.
England swallowed their first defeat in the European Cup Qualifiers since 2007. Gareth Southgate, England national team coach, acknowledged the role of the decline in the performance of players at the club level behind the defeat.
“Listen, I always accept responsibility. We try to be more solid when playing without the ball (defense) and this does not happen. We are not solid and perform poorly when controlling the ball in the first half,” Southgate said, quoted by BBC Sport.
“In terms of players, I think there are players who are not doing well for their club, but this is the situation we are facing at the moment, this is seen in several positions.”
“We have to accept these results collectively, but of course, as a manager, then I also have to accept them well, it’s clear,” Southgate added.
It could be that the players referred to Southgate are like Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Harry Kane, and Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur).