Southgate revels in England’s attacking success after Ukraine overreaction
The Three Lions dominated Scotland in a 3-1 friendly win at Hampden Park on Tuesday evening, with strikes from Foden, Bellingham and Harry Kane cancelling out an unlucky Harry Maguire personal purpose.
Bellingham earned man-of-the-match honours in a sport which commemorated 150 years for the reason that two nations performed the primary ever worldwide soccer match again in 1872.
Asked about whether or not England have discovered a blueprint for Euro 2024, Southgate as an alternative made his emotions recognized concerning the overreaction to the drab 1-1 draw with Ukraine in Poland on Saturday.
He mentioned: “Different game, different pitch, different opposition. Ukraine sat deep and made it hard to find space. Tonight we had space for runners so it was just a different match.
“We have been playing pretty well – I know the roof caved in at the weekend as it wasn’t the performance that people wanted but we had a week where we made a significant step towards qualifying and we had a really good performance tonight.
“I thought the players from one to eleven, with the subs coming on, it was one of those nights where they all did well.”
Foden performed on the suitable of a entrance three in opposition to Scotland additionally that includes Kane and Marcus Rashford, amid requires Southgate to maneuver both the Manchester City man or Tottenham’s James Maddison into central midfield.
Southgate praised Foden, whom he believes was in his proper place. He mentioned: “I am pleased for him as much as anything as I got a lot of questions about him this week.
“He scored a goal and I thought his performance was really good. He did a really good job without the ball for us as well. I think sometimes that’s overlooked.”
Bellingham performed in a really superior midfield place in opposition to Scotland, justifying that choice with a purpose and an help.
It is an identical position to the one performed at Real Madrid, the place he has scored 5 occasions in his first 4 matches following an £88.5million transfer from Borussia Dortmund this summer time.
When requested whether or not Bellingham moved into his finest place, Southgate mentioned: “I think that high sort of midfield position as an attacking eight, or where he played tonight [is his best position].
“He likes to run forward. He can get in the box. His game to receive is a little bit better in those areas and tonight, his athleticism to press was important as Scotland’s system is difficult to play against.
“We slightly changed our system to put pressure all over the pitch and he did it well.”