Gareth Southgate says England must be “completely ruthless” from here on out as World Cup preparations ramp up on the back of June’s chastening Nations League results.
England are in Milan to take on Euro 2020 final foes Italy on Friday evening knowing defeat will see them relegated from the top tier of the Nations League.
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It would be an embarrassing moment and another difficult bump in the road for one of the World Cup favourites in their penultimate match before the tournament.
Southgate’s side are determined to get back to winning ways on Friday as they return to action for the first time since some fans called for the manager’s head during the humiliating 4-0 home loss to Hungary.
“Well the individual part is not important,” the England boss said of the stick he faced. “We analysed everything, every department.
“I think when you’re winning… we were on a run going into that summer of 22 matches without losing and you maybe don’t analyse the victories quite as acutely as you analyse the defeats.
“That’s probably not the right approach in actual fact.
“But I felt I compromised certain decisions internally, and you don’t win if you compromise.
“It was good for me to sharpen that focus again because what we’re going into we’ve got to be completely ruthless and I’ve got to create an environment for the players that allows them to excel.
“And to provide them with the best platform to be at the level they’ve been for the last five or six years.”
Asked what the compromises were, Southgate said: “No, because they’re internal things that we’re working on as a team, so there’s no need for that to be public.”
Defeats to Hungary bookended a miserable four-game slog in June, with the 1-0 loss in Budapest followed by draws at Germany and behind closed doors against the Azzurri.
But the 4-0 Molineux mauling was the crushing blow that leaves them at a crossroads with the World Cup just 60 days away.
“I’m not really sure it’s about form because when you’re in an international environment, there’s so many weeks and months between games that you’re starting from scratch every time, really,” Southgate said.
“There were so many circumstances in the summer with, firstly, high-quality games, high-quality opponents, but also the need to look after some of our big players.
“I think every…
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