Maybe Gareth Southgate was expecting a more high profile revenge game against Italy, but it was not meant to be. In fact, ahead of the first duel between England and Italy after that famous EURO final at Wembley, Southgate is quite moody. England manager was forced to deal with various critics, from fans to pundits and even thou it comes with the territory, it seems that former Middlesbrough man is becoming increasingly frustrated. So far, England has lost to Hungary and drew with Germany, scoring only one goal in the current UEFA Nations League competition and Southgate’s style is also under the microscope.Gareth Southgate has vowed he will not “outstay” his welcome as England manager. pic.twitter.com/h3fUR7BQkQ— The Athletic UK (@TheAthleticUK) June 11, 2022 So, ahead of Italy game, he was forced to talk about his style of play, which is branded too negative, his choice of players and even about his future, even thou he has a contract until 2024.„I’ve got to manage in the way I see fit. Don’t get me wrong, I sense where the room is with it. I won’t outstay my welcome but I think I can do a good job for the team — and I think we’ve done a good job for the team. We will continue to improve the team, which we have done over a consistent period of time. We’re also developing young players as well that will leave England in a good place for a long period to come. I can’t be swayed because popular opinion would pick 15 players for each game and have 28 players in each squad. When I travel around the country, people are brilliant. I have received plenty of pats on the back so when you get the other side, you have got to have balance in that. I accept that is what all my predecessors have had so why would it be any different for me? That’s part of the industry“ said Southgate.‘Why didn’t you do that for Burnley?’: a bust-up between teammates in a Nations League matchEven if England manages to win against Italy and get their revenge for the defeat in the EURO 2020 finals, only few people will see it. England will at Molineux stadium, home of Wolverhampton Wanderers, with only 3,000 fans allowed to attend, most of which will be children, due to UEFA ban after ugly scenes at the EURO finals.”If it is an embarrassment, it is for England as a country. A lot of the people that caused the problems I’m not certain were football fans. We spoke enough about it, we spoke about it after the final and when the punishment was first given, what I will say is the vast majority of our fans who travelled to Germany on Tuesday behaved brilliantly, a big thank you to them because maybe people were thinking something different but there were a huge majority who were a credit” said Southgate.The Gods of bad business: Everton releases a trio worth 80 million eurosBoth team will likely mix the squad, as more and more players are getting tired, with plenty of games in the Nations League already played after a long season in various leagues. Italy’s manager Roberto Mancini used this UEFA competition to bring along some new blood into the squad, so this game will be much different from the one in the EURO finals.„It’s going to be a tough game, as it always is against England. I don’t know if England will see it as revenge for the Euros, but this certainly is different to a Final, it’s even played behind closed doors. We have not yet decided who will play. Some played two games in a row, so we need to take that into account. It would be better if we didn’t completely transform every time. For example, Bryan Cristante played two games in four days and there’s another one coming up in three days. We don’t have that many choices in midfield“ said Manchini.UEFA NATIONS LEAGUELEAGUE A, ROUND 1TuesdayGermany – England 1-1 (0-0)/Hofmann 50 – Kane 88 pen/Italy – Hungary 2-1 (2-0)/Barella 30, Pellegrini 45 – Mancini 61 og/WednesdayBelgium – Poland 6-1 (1-1)/Witsel 42, De Bruyne 59, Trossard 73, 80, Dendoncker 83, Openda 90+3 – Lewandowski 28/Wales – Netherlands 1-2 (0-0)/Norrington-Davies 90+2 – Koopermeiners 50, Weghorst 90+4/ThursdayPortugal – Czech R. 2-0 (2-0)/Cancelo 33, Guedes 38/Switzerland – Spain 0-1 (0-1)/Sarabia 13/FridayAustria – France 1:1 (1-0)/Weimann 36 – Mbappe 83/Denmark – Croatia 0-1 (0-0)/Pašalić 69/Saturday21.45: (9.00) Hungary (4.90) Germany (1.40)21.45: (1.90) England (3.50) Italy (4.70)21.45: (4.40) Wales (3.50) Belgium (1.95)21.45: (1.48) Netherlands (4.50) Poland (7.75)Sunday21.45: (3.80) Switzerland (3.50) Portugal (2.10)21.45: (1.40) Spain (4.90) Czech R. (9.00)Monday21.45: (2.00) Denmark (3.50) Austria (4.10)21.45: (1.60) France (3.80) Croatia (7.25)Tuesday21.45: (1.32) England (5.40) Hungary (12.0)21.45: (1.85) Germany (3.70) Italy (4.60)***odds are subject to change
