Gareth Southgate has warned his England players they have to eliminate the individual mistakes after their”bizarre” encounter with Kosovo.
A revealing from Southgate’s men was sufficient to repel a brave Kosovo 5-3 at St Mary’s in a pulsating Qualifier.
After falling behind after only 35 seconds to Valon Berisha, England responded emphatically, scoring five goals in the opening 45 minutes, but two defensive lapses let their plucky opponents a way back into the match.
The England manager praised the capability of his young team but conceded the mistakes need to cut out at the back.
“It was weird,” he said.
“The exceptional aspects and the poor features are evident to everybody. We made individual mistakes and a bad start but showed great composure to recuperate from those mistakes. Our usage of this ball in the first half has been outstanding.”
He added on Sky Sports News:”The match should really be completed at half-time, of course, but if teams start to shed leads then there’s a different feel about the stadium as well as the opposition don’t have anything to lose so could opt for this, and we just have ourselves to blame because of that. They have been bad mistakes, bad mistakes and conclusions although not structural issues for us.
“It set Kosovo back into the match and at 5-3 we had a protracted possession and really calmed down the game. A long passing movement has been that led to the punishment, which had been our chance. Regrettably, we did not take that this time, but we managed to see the game out fairly well from that point.”
It was a really Jekyll-and-Hyde-like performance from Southgate’s men who were at times scintillating going forward, particularly in the period just before the break when Sterling and Jadon Sancho generated havoc .
Kosovo trainer Bernard Challandes hailed Sterling as”among the finest in the world” following his performance while Sancho took his chance with open arms, netting his first international targets.
Southgate had high praise for them both.
He said:”The forwards play was exceptional occasionally…Sterling’s performances are of the maximum level. He had been unstoppable. His comprehension of where defenders are and his capacity to ride challenges, his vision and desire to put in on target. I couldn’t talk highly enough of them.
Southgate added on Sancho:”We know we’ve got such great attacking ability. We were really delighted with Marcus [Rashford] in the weekend. Jadon is a somewhat different sort of player. He showed his equilibrium and he revealed his ability to conquer on individuals. He works really tough for the team without the ballwhich is significant to how we play, and that he has been rewarded with his first goals for England which is a particular moment for him.”
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