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John Stones has already tested Gareth Southgate’s patience and is set to do it again.
The 26-year-old had hoped to banish any lingering fears that he will remain error-prone after fully deserving his recall to the England squad following excellent form with Manchester City. Injuries permitting, Stones remains the favorite to start England’s Euro 2020 opener against Croatia alongside Harry Maguire, but as was the case on Wednesday in a 2-1 win. against Poland, its reliability in the greatest moments must still be put in confidence. .
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It’s important to remember that Southgate won’t see their latest mistake in isolation. England left the 2019 Nations League semi-finals after a similar mistake against the Netherlands – adding to a growing catalog – and although Stones survived to win one more call he was later excluded from setup for 16 months as he disappeared in City’s pecking order.
Pep Guardiola’s side are on the verge of regaining the Premier League title largely due to Stones’ remarkable resurgence, and even after wandering here at Wembley, the center-back has partly atoned by returning the corner from Phil Foden in the 85th minute for Harry Maguire to hit the roof of the net and spare England the blushes.
“Every player is going to make mistakes in games and sometimes they will be punished and sometimes not. What you are looking for is that reaction and to see how they react. It would be easy to fold in those times and John does. It was a big factor in keeping us in the game, his reaction and it was important that the whole team showed that kind of response.
“He had a good season and he made a mistake tonight, he knows it but he bounced back during the game and he has to keep doing it.”
But Southgate already has concerns about the fragility of England’s defense – which is why he opted for a 3-5-2 system at the 2018 World Cup and explains much of the using a 3-4-2-1 form on several occasions since – and Stones offering Poland their equalizer won’t do much to allay those fears.
Retrieving the ball from goalkeeper Nick Pope, Stones turned and took a heavy touch, allowing Jakub Moder to steal the ball from him. Substitute Arkadiusz Milik slipped a pass to Moder, who shot an equalizer in front of Pope.
England deserves to be congratulated for finding a way to win, but just as they needed a set piece to produce a winner – their reliance on deadball situations bordered on excess in Russia – she needed a soft penalty to take the lead. in the first place. Raheem Sterling entered the box and fell under minimal contact from Michal Helik, and Kane converted the next kick in the 19th minute for his 34th goal in England.
Despite all their lively attacking play – Foden, Mason Mount and Kane combined superbly on more than one occasion – England were unable to translate their first-half superiority to the score more significantly .
And when Poland improved, emboldened by that equalizer, England worked. Southgate and his assistant Steve Holland apply a studious attention to detail to every facet of the game and so it was surprising to see them engaged in a long conversation – seemingly suffering from inertia – during a sustained second period in which this match threatened to develop. far from them.
It’s tempting to think that maybe this is the case if Robert Lewandowski had played. With the Bayern Munich forward missing with a knee injury, Poland lacked the power to capitalize on their increased possession.
England started to look a little tired. Ten of that starting lineup also started Sunday’s 2-0 win over Albania and it showed. The return of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish will improve Southgate’s options, but it seemed revealing that he did not turn to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jesse Lingard, Ollie Watkins or Jude Bellingham when the team went. Need to recharge.
The England manager has tough choices to make, made all the more painful by managing the knowledge team as managing the knowledge team will be more vital this summer than ever given the cumulative fatigue arising from of a condensed domestic calendar due to COVID-19. England have always suffered from fatigue in the second half of tournament matches. Former Three Lions boss Sven-Goran Eriksson summed it up better: “The first half is good, the second half is not so good.”
Southgate and Holland have devised a specific plan to counter this ahead of Russia – giving players a week off in a phased strategy depending on a player’s end of engagements with the club – but there are only three weeks left between the last round of Premier League and England Premier League matches. Participation in the Champions League and Europa League finals will further narrow the gap.
“We will always seek to do so. That they can leave is of course highly unlikely. But I think they need a period of rest,” Southgate said when asked about the pre-Euro preparations.
“Psychologically they would need that rest. Under normal circumstances there are clearly potentially five or six attacking players that we could have refreshed the team. [with] across the three games. Even though 45 minutes in Game 1 may seem like nothing, as you near the end of Game 3, all of these things take their toll.
“We knew it was important qualifying, we had to push. We recovered and healed the players in the best possible way, but next summer we will have more options to refresh during games and make the changes. that will allow us to turn. the team a little more. That is going to be the key. “
It’s easy to only address England’s shortcomings given the national thirst for tournament success, but Germany provided important context on the same night here, losing 2-1 at home to North Macedonia . England avoided such an embarrassment last week, sending San Marino, Albania and Poland two points clear at the top of Group I World Cup qualifying and getting on track for the qualification.
But Southgate will not be judged on this point. Instead, England must build on the progress they have undoubtedly made and at the center of that will be finding a defense that can withstand tasks more difficult than this.
The debate continues over his first-choice full-backs with Ben Chilwell selected ahead of Luke Shaw, Kyle Walker edging out Reece James, Kieran Trippier an unused replacement and Trent Alexander-Arnold completely ruled out. The center-back remains uncertain too and so close to the final it’s really not ideal.
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