Euro 2020 - Gareth Southgate says England cannot be 'football snobs' and must play with variety going forward
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ByEurosport
Updated 15/06/2021 at 09:00 GMT
England got their Euro 2020 campaign off to a good start with a 1-0 win over Croatia in Group D thanks to Raheem Sterling's tidy finish in the 57th minute on Sunday. There were a few moments of hesitation in the England defence on the ball between John Stones and Jordan Pickford. But Three Lions coach, Gareth Southgate says playing with variety will be the key for the rest of the tournament, start
Gareth Southgate
Image credit: Getty Images
Gareth Southgate says England cannot be "football snobs" and that the Three Lions must play with variety.
Southgate was asked to explain why Jordan Pickford and John Stones appeared to have heated discussions during England 1-0 Group D win against Croatia, over whether to play out from the back or take a more direct approach.
The England coach said there is no right or wrong answer to the question.
"I think they were just deciding (what to do)," he said.
"We give them pictures and it depends how the opposition press and there were times where it was on to take on.
"We don't have as long to work on those patterns playing from goal kicks as you do at a club, and also we're one mistake away from it being more costly - across 38 games that's different.
"Those guys are able to make those decisions. We give them possible patterns depending on how the opposition are pressing, there was a little spell where we went long and we just talked about that at half-time.
"We didn't want to do that every time. But there are moments to go longer, we've got a centre-forward who wins more of his share of the ball.
"And we shouldn't be football snobs. It's great to play out from the back and get to the halfway line in control of the ball, but it's just as effective to go to the centre-forward and be in control of the ball and be able to play from there.
The variety is important against top opposition.
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