Southgate Wants England to Do Much Better in Order to Improve World Rankings
England manager Gareth Southgate believes that the national team should do a lot more in order to bridge the gap between the England national team and the world’s best.
Southgate recently took charge of the national team on a permanent basis after impressing on an interim basis following the departure of Sam Allardyce. The former Bolton manager step down from his role after just one game. However, it appears that the managers alone are not responsible for the poor performance of the team for several decades. Southgate says that the players will also have to step up if England are to become a force in world football.
The club go to the World Cup qualifying games in March consistently falling behind the top teamsin the world ranking tables. England are 13th in the world ranking and it is one of the lowest positions that the national team has occupied in recent memory. It has been down to a combination of poor form coupled with the Euro 2016 being a disaster.
With no major tournaments coming up until the World Cup 2018, England will have various opportunities to improve this rank apart from focusing well on the qualifiers. England have a friendly game against Germany in March followed by a home game against Lithuania in the World Cup qualifiers.
“We’ve got to be better – everything we do has got to be better. Even being second in the world is not good enough. We’ve got to work smartly on how we can bridge that gap, as it’s a significant one. I never pick on reputation – form has to come into it. You have to look at the opposition and the type of game you’re expecting and select the players best suited to that,” said Southgate ahead of the crucial two games.
