September break is last realistic opportunity to work with team, admits Gareth Southgate
England boss Gareth Southgate has revealed that the September international break is the last realistic chance for him to work with his squad before the 2022 World Cup starts. The Three Lions face Euro 2020 champions Italy and then play Germany in their final internationals before the World Cup.
Despite enjoying an interesting 2021 international year as they lost just one game the Euro 2020 final to Italy, England have endured a tough 2022 so far. The Three Lions have played six games but have only won two friendlies while failing to win even one of the four competitive games they have played. That run includes two losses to Hungary with draws to Germany and Italy sandwiched in between those.
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Find OutBut the Three Lions play their final two UEFA Nations League games against the Azzurri and the Germans during the September international break, which will be the last break before the World Cup. It saw Gareth Southgate admit that this will be the last chance for him to properly work with the squad and get them up to speed over their preparations for the 2022 World Cup. He also added that the team wants to respond to their performances in the last international break as it’s “really important for the preparation ahead of the World Cup”.
"We're not going to get the players together again before the World Cup. You'd normally have around a 28-day training camp and a couple of friendlies leading into a tournament to work with the team,” Southgate told Sky Sports.
"This is the last realistic opportunity to do that. When we get together in the winter, we'll be flying to Qatar and it'll be a normal one-week prep for a game. This is a great opportunity to test ourselves against really top teams. We want to respond to the performances we gave in the summer, and it's really important for preparation ahead of the World Cup."