Maybe UEFA’s Nations League is not such an interesting competition (in fact is not at all) but when you are in a group with Italy, Germany and Hungary, things are always exciting. And if you are in England, a certain level of professionalism is required. A quick look at the table of Group 3 in League A must be terrifying for any England fan, no matter what’s the name of the competition – the Albion is dead last, with no victories and a goal difference of 1-7 ahead of the last game in the group…with Germany. What is even worse, England is relegated to League B whatever happens in that last match. England have been relegated from their Nations League group 😳 pic.twitter.com/Jznsc5qdC6— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 23, 2022 Relegation from the top group means basically three things: losing a spot in the UEFA rankings, losing an opportunity to win the trophy and breaking the good mood in the squad ahead of the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. And as usual, the manager Gareth Southgate is the main target of critics, but after some terrible results (4-0 home loss to Hungary is the worst one), the former Middlesborough coach is still sure he is doing the right thing. “I think I’m the right person to take the team into the tournament. It’s more stable that way, without a doubt. I don’t think that the performance against Italy was far off and I know that will get derision just because we are on the back of a run of defeats. The players know that, in the main, the performance against Italy was good. We’ve got to be decisive in the final third. We’re not managing that at the moment and that’s a head-scratcher, given the quality of the players and the positions they got themselves into” said Southgate after the game.NATIONS LEAGUE: Hungarians shock Germany in Leipzig, the ‘Maguire curse’ continuesThe more immediate concern after Southgate’s third defeat in five games is the team’s form over an extended period with just one game until the big kick-off in Qatar. But the England manager tried to downplay the concerns in the British public. “Normally, you go into the World Cup on the back of a qualifying campaign that’s relatively comfortable, some friendlies you hand pick and a couple of weaker friendlies to keep your fitness levels. We’re on the back of Germany twice, Italy twice and a Hungary team that have been exceptional. So we’ve had far more difficult games and we haven’t managed to win those games” said Southgate. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6670819##Apart from being dead last in the Nations League, England will now face a more difficult EURO 2024 schedule. UEFA’s “access list” ahead of the Nations League had England ranked in ninth place but their illustrative rankings based on England’s current bottom spot in A3 would see them slip to 15th. That basically means that they could face the likes of Spain, Belgium or the Netherlands in their qualifying group for the EURO. Not an easy schedule.
