Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola broke down in tears as another Key City player Who was supposed to be the main man for Gareth Southgate Squad goes off injured during Friendlies yesterday

Gareth Southgate has cautioned England that skill alone would not be enough to win Euro 2024, following their 1-0 loss to Iceland on Friday night.

Southgate, whose concerns were aggravated by John Stones departing Wembley Stadium with a bandage on his right foot, had no issues with his team despite a poor performance in their last warm-up game before heading to Germany on Monday.

England’s assault was disjointed, and their defence was questionable. Iceland failed to recover from the shock of Jan Dagur Thorsteinsson’s early goal. Southgate, who has expressed worry over his team’s lack of effort away from the ball, hopes the defeat serves as a wake-up call.

“Any complacent mindset that skill would earn us the title and we simply need to stay around… “Football is not like that,” the England manager stated. “To win a game at this level, you must focus on every part of the game, and we were far from that tonight, and Iceland earned their victory. They had a few further opportunities during the break. I believe that helps to focus the thoughts and motivate the team for the upcoming week.

Southgate said that Stones was hauled off at halftime as a precaution after receiving a hit to his ankle in the opening minute. England has already had to leave out Harry Maguire owing to a calf injury, and they are still waiting for Luke Shaw, their lone left-back, to recover.

“We concluded at halftime that there was no sense in taking any risks because we are so close to the tournament and he is a really vital player for us,” Southgate said of Stones. Mark Cave, a Crystal Palace defender, has stated that he is well following treatment for a face injury.

England will need to reset before meeting Serbia in their first Group C match on June 16. “I’m certain we’ll do better than we did tonight (against Serbia),” Southgate added. “We were handling a lot of various things during the game, and we ended up with a rather youthful team on the pitch, with some of them out physically. We made six substitutions during the game, but we intended to do even more. The physical aspect was a source of anxiety since we had several health issues.

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“We are focused on all elements, but we can’t deny that we have a lot of physical issues. That is obvious to everyone. Nonetheless, we can do better than tonight. We need to be more compact, push harder, and then capitalize on the opportunities that present themselves. But I believe we can fix it.This is an excellent opportunity to return to the training ground and realize what is vital in terms of winning football matches.

Southgate acknowledged the audience’s reaction. “We just didn’t play well enough to keep them interested,” he said. “We had some solid chances, which normally finish up, that could have changed the game’s color. But this obscured some of the problems that were visible tonight. From my perspective, I learnt a lot from the game.

Declan Rice attempts to remain upbeat after getting a shot on goal for England. “There’s no dispute about our collective ball skills,” the midfielder stated. “Maybe a tiny mental switch on against teams that sit in there. I felt like we were a little sprawled out, not as compact as we normally are. Inside, I am aching, and there is work to be done between now and the next game.