England manager Gareth Southgate admitted his side lacked “zip” in their goalless draw with the United States but insisted they remain firmly in charge of their World Cup destiny.
England followed their thumping 6-2 defeat of Iran in their Group B opener with a tepid stalemate in Al Bayt stadium. It was an underwhelming offering from Southgate’s team who struggled to create clear-cut chances and saw their rivals strike the crossbar through Christian Pulisic.
Despite the USA being dominant for large parts of the game and putting England under severe pressure during a prolonged period in the second half, Southgate refused to make changes until he summoned Jordan Henderson from the bench on 69 minutes.
Southgate defended the failure to hand Phil Foden a run-out in the second-half and remained upbeat that England will qualify from Group B ahead of Tuesday’s game with Wales.
“It was exactly the sort of game I thought it would be,” said Southgate. “Really tough, a good opponent who is very athletic. I knew it would be difficult for us after such a high [against Iran] to replicate that performance.
“We didn’t quite have that same zip. That is going to happen. We are not going to roll through a tournament and sweep through everybody without having nights like that.
“A silver medal today was a point, because it puts us in a really strong position in terms of qualification. The objective is to get out of the group. We have got three games to do it. We have done it in two games in the last two tournaments [but] it’s very unrealistic to expect that every time.”
On the exclusion of Foden, Southgate added: “We thought it was the right thing to keep the same team from the start and the wide players we went with Jack [Grealish] and Marcus [Rashford] ahead of Phil in the changes.
“We thought Jack would keep the ball and get us up the pitch and Marcus’ speed would also be a threat in that last part of the game.”
'We lacked final product'
Harry Kane, who was available after an injury scare, squandered England’s best opening, which arrived late in the game and saw the England captain head a Luke Shaw free-kick off target. On the team’s display, he said: “It wasn’t the best performance. They pressed well, they made it difficult.
“We had good spells with the ball, but we didn’t quite have the final product. The clean sheet puts us in a great position in the group. Overall, we were playing a tough team and we move on.
“We know we can play better than that but it’s a draw and there are no easy games at the World Cup. After our first performance, people thought we were going to landslide every team we play but that’s not the case. We were playing against a really organised team with some organised players and we have to respect that.”
'We weren't at our best'
Harry Maguire, England’s man of the match after standing tall in the face of growing USA pressure, echoed his captain’s sentiments. “We weren’t at our best but in the end, it’s a point, and we are in a strong position in the group,” he said.
“World Cup games are never easy and we knew coming into the game that they are a good team. We could have been a little bit more clinical with our chances and we would have won the game but we’ll take the positive parts and work on what we need to improve on.
“We’re in control of the group with four points from two games. Of course we wanted to win the game tonight and see the job through, but we’re looking forward to the next game against Wales.”
