England manager Gareth Southgate has said he will consider Euro 2020 a failure for his team if they don’t reach the semi-finals.
England reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2018 in what was Southgate’s first tournament in charge of the senior side.
They then advanced to the final stages of the inaugural Nations League competition a year later. Southgate’s side lost to the Netherlands in the semi-final.
The England boss has now named his 26-man final squad for the Euros yes, and has laid out his expectations for the tournament.
On whether not reaching the semi-finals would be considered a failure, he said (via BBC Sport): “Yeah, it probably will.
“I think we’re realistic about that, we have to live with that expectation.
“Are we ready to win? Well, we’ve been to two semi-finals so the next step is to try to go further.”
Southgate on right-back selection
England’s first Euro 2020 group game is at Wembley on June 12 against Croatia – the side that defeated them in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.
10 of the players included in the 23-man squad for that tournament were named in Southgate’s Euros squad yesterday.
Three of those players are right-back trio Kyle Walker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kieran Trippier.
This time around, they have been joined in the squad by Chelsea right-back Reece James.
And Southgate said that he would have picked more right-backs if he could.
He explained: “We have four players that play sometimes at right-back for their clubs. Basically they are in the best 26 footballers and that is why they are in the squad.
“If I could have picked five or six right-backs I would have done.”
“We are here to play nine games. We already have some injury doubts in the group,” he continued.
“We need adaptability, good players, good professionals, tactically savvy players and we are fortunate we have old and young players who fit all those categories.”
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