Gareth Southgate has said that there is “no such thing as a friendly” as England prepare to take on Wales on Thursday. England start a run of three games in six days with a friendly against Ryan Giggs’s team at Wembley before playing Belgium and Denmark in the groupstages of the Uefa Nations League.
Southgate, the England manager, had plenty to discuss on the eve of England’s first match against the Welsh since their 2-1 victory at Euro 2016. He has not only had to deal with players arriving on the back of a hectic start to the domestic season but also players unable to join-up due to breaking coronavirus rules.
On facing Wales
Given the compact nature of this season, national teams are playing three matches during the international break. It means that there will be plenty of changes from game to game to ensure that no player is given too much of a burden.
"It is a different sort of challenge at the moment,” Southgate said. “We are trying to manage the loads of the group. This is an incredible tense period for everyone and we are very conscious of that. We want to manage opportunities and manage the load in training. It does take a lot of plotting but it is a good coaching challenge.
"We have one match in my mind and that is Wales tomorrow. Our focus on this game is the same as any other game. We know there is no such thing as a friendly. I would be disappointed if anybody felt England's players were less passionate playing in a game like this than the Welsh. We have to go and show that.
"Our team tomorrow when you go through it will have a huge motivation to play. It may lack a bit of experience but it will be a great opportunity to learn a lot."
On the goalkeeping situation
Southgate is expected to give a start to Nick Pope, the Burnley goalkeeper, and also possibly Dominic Calvert-Lewin, of Everton, and Leicester City’s Harvey Barnes, who would both be making their debut.
On the goalkeeping situation, the England manager discussed the tight call that he has to make with next summers European Championships quickly coming into sight. "We have got to be careful on using the three camps left about where should be with the team and in our thinking. We have not been together for 10 months so have had to start again,” he said.
"Jordan Pickford has made errors, Nick Pope made errors too at the weekend and Dean Henderson has only played League Cup games in changed line-ups. It is a close contest and all three we would not have any hesitation in putting in goal. We will make a change tomorrow and it is a good opportunity to put players in.
"It is a tight call, Jordan's performance with us have been excellent, I’m not oblivious to what has happened to him at Everton and we have to try and help them be in their best possible form when they are with us. Any team, whether that's club or national, is only as strong as the squad. That is not just in terms of those who can come in but also the mentality around training, making sure everyone is on point, they provide competition.
“Nick has been a brilliant example of that. Fifty-six odd days through the World Cup totally selfless in his approach, incredibly patient waiting for his opportunity and they are the sort of players you need in the squad."
Three absentees are not guaranteed return
Southgate also confirmed that Ben Chilwell, Tammy Abraham and Jadon Sancho will miss the Wales game. It is understood they were among more than six people at Abraham's surprise 23rd birthday party on Saturday - breaking coronavirus rules in England.
Southgate said: "They miss the game with Wales, if they are not able to be with us by Friday morning, they will miss the game with Belgium [on Sunday]. We just have to make sure to protect the whole group, that is key. I think the players have already accepted they were in the wrong. They had broken those lockdown guidelines that were there.
The boys are back! 😁
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“I have to be careful being on my moral high-horse when we aren't in camp with the team. I don't think we can attribute what happens when they are the responsibility of their clubs to England. At the beginning of the week we had a good meeting with them and spoke about the responsibility of being an England layer and how the spotlight is different.”
There was also a hint of Southgate trying to steer the group back towards the togetherness mentality that took England to the semi-finals in the World Cup two years ago. "I have also talked about the connection of the fans and we have 10 with us who were in Russia,” he added. “They have done good work with their clubs, communities but some of the young ones have not done that and they need to prove themselves.
“They need to remember it is an honour to play for England, we have all made errors, I had nights out as player but we are living in unique times with Covid but politicians, businessmen have erred within the field. Fighting the virus, we need to work to pull together. There is a lot of disharmony now when before we saw people clapping the NHS and doing shopping for their neighbours."