Southgate assesses England opening Euros performance after edging out Serbia 1-0

We did, yeah. I thought first half we used the ball really well, had control of the game, probably should have scored a second. Yeah. I think second-half we we expended a lot of energy in the first half and a lot of the players haven't had a 90 minutes for a while. So I was worried about us energy wise, how we would be and I thought that showed a little bit also. Then we didn't keep the ball quite as well. And of course, then Serbia have to come because they they need the goal. So less control. Still had an excellent chance towards the end, but pleased that we had to show a different side that we had to show that resilience to to defend our box because I think as a group that really builds a huge spirit. Yeah. Hi Gareth. A lot of people have been fretting about the defense and Mark Gahey in particular. He was outstanding tonight. How have you dealt with that? Do you think he's been under any extra pressure with that? And you must have been delighted with the way he responded. Yeah, I saw the player that plays every week for his club positionally sound calm. Tonight was a an even bigger test because he's statue wise, he's not one of the biggest centre backs and there was going to be a lot of aerial ball in the box and he dealt with that really well. So yeah, I I thought he transferred what he does with his club onto the biggest stage and he showed what a good player he is. Goodnight Gareth tonight. This this match has been the the historic because never ever in the history of the Euro two teams score, strike less on goal, only eleven shots on goal. How do you explain this? Did you expect this kind of of match? Well, we, we knew Serbia with a back 5541. It's difficult to to create clear chances. So you have to be patient. You have to show the quality at the right time. And you know, we defended very well as a, as a, as a unit. So no, I, I, I think there, there, as I said, I thought both teams, well, it's not for me to talk about Serbia, but our team ran out of some energy. And that didn't surprise me because the lack of 90 minutes that lots of the players have had, but the substitutes came on helped that for us. And yeah, I think we can be more efficient in the way that we played in the first half, which would also help us moving forward. Hi, Gareth. Just quickly, Trent in midfield today, a bit of a mixed picture with Jude. Says he's looking forward to playing more with him. Is he going to get a chance later in the tournament? Well, I was really pleased. Of course, Jude has such a prominent role, but he goes forward a lot and Trent had to cover a lot of spaces that, you know, it's not a role he's done very often at all. So I thought he showed great discipline. He he he showed some moments about that fabulous passing range that he has the the shot on goal as well. We're obviously, you know, learning with him in in this role, but I thought he showed some of the attributes that he can bring. And whatever we do in there, we're going to be playing a young player or an inexperienced player. So it was great to see him come through that Test. Gareth, I was just wondering now how influential you thought Harry Kane was in the first half to the overall performance because he played maybe a bit different than he did against Iceland because he wasn't dropping as deep as as much. Yeah. I mean, I thought we've, we've got so many options with the ball and we were in such control of the ball in that first half that it, it didn't necessarily mean that everybody needed to be fully involved in the game. You know, I thought second-half, his performance where the, the number of times he held the ball up when we were under pressure, the number of fouls that he won, the, the way that he eased the pressure on the defence was incredible really. So, yeah, first half a little bit quieter, but that was the, that, that was the flow of the game and, and we, we were in complete control of that first half, which, yeah, moments Phil, Phil popped up really well in, in the spaces. I I thought he did an excellent job in the second-half when we were struggling to keep hold of it and his, his technical ability to hold the ball for us in a few of those moments was, was really helpful. So, you know, look, this team is still coming together. Everybody's expecting us to walk through. There's a lot of hard work ahead. We're we're short of certain things. We're finding best possible solutions. We've had very complicated running to all of this, but the spirit of the group was there for everybody to see tonight. And we'll we'll definitely grow from that. OK, last question, please. Hi, Gareth. The police are still trying to determine exactly what sparked the issues before the game, but I just wondered if you have a comment about the fighting that erupted in Gelsenkirk and between Serbian and England fans. Serbian fans arrested six or seven. First I've heard. First I've heard. OK, well, and I've told you. Yeah, well, I, I I don't know any of the detail. So, yeah, I wasn't aware of any of that. Obviously I've been with the team and then doing 100 interviews so, but no, I wasn't aware of any of that for the first. First I've heard we could beat that up. Cheers guys.