Gareth Southgate Explains How 'Poor Execution' Led to England's Nations League Semi Final Defeat
England manager Gareth Southgate has insisted that he will not change his side's style of play following their 3-1 Nations League semi final defeat to the Netherlands.
The Dutch scored twice in extra time thanks to two howlers from England, in which both John Stones and Ross Barkley gave the ball away cheaply inside their defensive thirds.
Jan Kruger/GettyImages
However, Southgate has insisted that his side are capable of playing out from the back, and that he will continue to insist on playing a possession based style, despite two semi final defeats in as many years.
"I'm asking them to play a tough game at the back, if we didn't play that way we wouldn't be here," Southgate told BBC Sport after the defeat in Guimaraes.
He added: "We didn't lose because of how we wanted to play; we lost because of poor execution and fatigue.
"It wasn't just the two goals, we made errors and gave opportunities which should have been punished before that."
Jan Kruger/GettyImages
England had taken the lead in the first half through a Marcus Rashford penalty, but following plenty of pressure from Ronald Koeman's men, Matthijs de Ligt equalised after some sloppy defending from a corner; before a Kyle Walker own goal and a Quincy Promes strike meant that Southgate's side would have to settle for the third place play-off against Switzerland on Sunday.
The 48-year-old stated: "Ross had gone down with cramp moments before the third goal and the Dutch pressed very well with a real intensity.
"We must play out better, the last one there's an element of fatigue and when you are fatigued errors happen.
"We were not quite as sharp on some of the decision-making but I think it's a really important game for us to reflect on, and the next few days will be painful having got to this stage."
