Gareth Southgate blasts England’s attackers for not being ‘at our previous level’ during frustrating Euro 2024 qualifier draw with Ukraine in Poland

Gareth Southgate told his attacking players they were not good enough in the 1-1 draw with Ukraine in Euro 2024 qualifying and warned them he does not expect such slow performances again.

Starting with James Maddison, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane, with Jude Bellingham also joining the attacking line, Southgate admitted England had been blunt by the standards of their razor-sharp displays, which have produced wins in Italy and goal-fests against North Macedonia. and Malta.

Southgate said: “Obviously the majority of our attacking play was not at the level we had hoped for. I think by the time we scored the goal we had more than 70 percent of the ball, but that was our first attempt on goal.

“We turned over (lost) too many balls that we normally wouldn’t. I didn’t expect this to happen again.

“We know that the patterns we worked with during the week are the same as what we always do, so it’s not like we’re approaching the game in a different way.

“We tried to freshen things up to give them a different kind of problem, but today our forward play, apart from the goal and Bukayo Saka’s effort that hit the crossbar, was not at the level of our previous games.”

Nevertheless, Southgate expressed satisfaction with the point, with England still firmly on course to qualify for Euro 2024 and the team returning to a fiercely partisan atmosphere, with 45,000 Ukrainians in exile packing the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, southern Poland , filled, where the Ukrainian national champion team plays their home game because of the war.

Southgate said: “The reality is that we are not going to win every game with fours and sevens, as we have done in this qualifying campaign. That was a really good test, away from home, a very passionate atmosphere. It’s a very important point for us and we have now played the two top ranked teams away from home and we have four points from those two games.

“What I liked was the control over the game that we had when you got into an intense atmosphere like it was. I thought we played with real composure until the last third. Given the circumstances and the importance of the point in terms of qualifying and coming from behind when the crowd is full (of hope) and the opposition has something to hold on to. That was a very good test, away from home.

‘For people like Mark Guehi, for example, this is his first experience of such a match against England, where he came through very strongly. James Maddison would be someone who has not played in such a match for England in the past. Ben Chilwell wouldn’t have played a large number of those games for us either.

“So the only way to learn and grow as a team is to have those kinds of experiences. Falling behind in a game like that is a challenge, but we stayed calm. And without a doubt, going through that kind of experience is a good learning experience for many players.

“I think on a night like this the experienced players were really important to the team and I thought they all did really well.”