Iceland 0-1 England: Gareth Southgate critical of Kyle Walker red and Joe Gomez after late win
Gareth Southgate was critical of Kyle Walker’s red card and England’s defending for Iceland’s late penalty after watching his side scrape a 1-0 win in their Nations League opener and insisted his players must learn from those mistakes.
Raheem Sterling proved to be the match-winner in Reykjavik, rolling home a penalty in the 91st minute, but England were fortunate to escape with all three points.
Walker had earlier been sent off when he received a second yellow card for a reckless lunge and Joe Gomez gave away a penalty moments after Sterling’s strike, which was blasted over by Birkir Bjarnason.
„The sending off is then obviously a key moment because I felt we were even more in control in the second half,“ said Southgate. „It’s very difficult to win games of football at any level if you’re down to 10 men. That’s a lesson we have to learn. It was an unnecessary red card.
„And then another lesson we have to learn, because to invite the ball as we did and defend it the way we did [for Iceland’s penalty] was really poor play. In the end we get away with it.“
Despite being less than impressed with aspects of England’s performance, Southgate accepted the game came in difficult conditions – with players still in pre-season training and short of match fitness and sharpness – and looked to take the positives ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Denmark.
„It kind of sums the week up really, it’s been so difficult to piece everything together and so many challenges,“ he said. „We leave here with a win, which was really important, some experience for some young players but obviously a bit flat because it feels that in the end we got away with it.
„We’re going to have to assess everybody [ahead of the Denmark game] because it’s not just the match sharpness [they’re lacking] it’s the actual training minutes for a lot of the guys as well.
„This would have taken a lot out of them. So we’re going to have to assess freshness, what’s the right approach for the game but at least we leave here with the win which gives us some momentum moving forward.“
Walker concerned for England future
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, a clearly downbeat Walker admitted he was concerned for his international future after his red card.
There is a lot of competition at right-back and 30-year-old Walker, despite earning 49 caps, had been out of the England fold for over a year before facing Iceland.
„Obviously to get sent off for your country is never a nice moment, especially being out of the team for so long,“ he said.
„I have to take the blame, I am experienced player and must know I’m on a yellow card. To make a rash challenge like that is not acceptable from me.
„I’m a seasoned professional, have played a lot of games, so I should know how to manage a game on a yellow card, and I’ve put myself in a situation I shouldn’t have been in.
„That’s the sad thing about being a footballer, it does come to an end at some point, and I’m probably near the end of my international career, but I still feel very energetic and feel I have a lot left in my legs. Hopefully I will be back.
„It’s hurting. I’ll have to talk to the boss, but I’m more than happy to stay around the team. I’ve missed it, it’s been far too long for me out of the team, around a year, so every chance I can get to be around the team I want to be a part of it.“
But boss Southgate had little sympathy for Walker’s sending off and warned England cannot afford to receive red cards at major tournaments in the future.
„He realises, as an experienced player, that those sorts of tackles in these types of games – in any games – especially when you’re on a yellow card invite the opportunity to make a decision and it was the right decision,“ said the manager.
„I have no complaints in terms of the officials on any of the penalties, or the red card.
„We’ve talked a lot over the years about discipline and in tournaments, especially, if you go down to 10 men then the number of times we’ve gone out of tournaments because of that, it’s proved critical.
It’s not something we want to see again.“
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