Gareth Southgate was delighted with his players’ commitment, togetherness and mentality over the last week as England continue to build towards their goal of winning Euro 2024.
Having reached the final of the last edition and impressed in December’s World Cup quarter-final exit to France, the focus is on finally getting their hands on silverware in Germany next summer.
Winning their first four Group C matches means it has long been a case of when rather than if England seal their place at the finals, but Saturday’s drab 1-1 qualification draw against Ukraine brought criticism.
Southgate’s side bounced back with a slick 3-1 friendly win over old foes Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday, bringing a successful camp came to a victorious end.
“We’re building all the time,” the England manager said. “We want to keep improving, we keep pushing the players.
“We’ve been able to experiment a bit this week as well. Two new centre-backs (Marc Guehi and Lewis Dunk) have come in, relatively inexperienced, and both done really well.
“But some of our senior players are so influential – (Kyle) Walker and (Kieran) Trippier were absolutely outstanding (against Scotland).
“The impact of our senior players on this group just can’t be underestimated.
“Of course, a lot of the headlines will go to some of our younger players and understandably so, but the way that the group form and the way they are as a team is key to getting the types of performance we have (last night).”
Southgate’s team are among the favourites to win next summer’s Euros and former international Joe Cole called this side the best England team he has seen his lifetime.
“Everybody else can assess that,” the manager said when that was put to him after their impressive Hampden Park triumph.
“I think we want to keep pushing the players.
“I was really pleased with the week. If you’d said to me before the game, ‘How’s the week been?’ I’d have said, ‘Excellent’.
“The players have been fully committed, encouraged each other, trained really well, responded well to a disappointing performance but a really important and good result in Ukraine.
“We wanted the sort of mentality that we showed, and they produced that. They were absolutely excellent (at Hampden).”
It was an impressive team effort with Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham at its heart in Mount Florida.
The 20-year-old played a role in Phil Foden’s opener and three minutes later fired home his second international goal.
Bellingham did not stop there as he capped a man-of-the-match display with a fine assist for Harry Kane after Harry Maguire’s own goal temporarily gave Hampden hope.
“Well, he was excellent,” Southgate said of the young midfielder. “We thought that position might cause a problem.
“I mean, we knew we needed athleticism there to press Scotland because their midfield players can dictate games if you allow them, so that was that was key.
“But we knew the way we played the system might create a bit of an overload and his powerful running forwards with Marcus (Rashford) as well, in particular when Harry was dropping low and Phil was dropping low, that gave us a real outlet.
“So, it was a nice balance to the team with Kalvin (Phillips) and Dec (Rice) doing a brilliant job of mopping up, destroying things and keeping the ball ticking over well.”
Players now return to club matters before convening next month for a Wembley friendly against Australia and qualifier under the arch against Euro 2020 winners Italy.
The Group C leaders’ advantage at the top could be cut to three points by the time they host the Azzurri, but bookmakers’ odds of 1-250 on England to qualify for Euro 2024 highlights their position of strength.
Scotland are also on the cusp of qualification having won their first five qualifiers.
Steve Clarke’s men would have even qualified on Tuesday had Norway and Georgia drawn, but instead the wait continues as they head to second-placed Spain next month looking respond to a deflating loss to the Auld Enemy.
Put to Southgate that there appears to be a big gap between England and Scotland, he said: “No, I just think, look, we played exceptionally well.
“We were able to nullify a lot of the threats that Scotland pose, so it was a really good performance from us.
“I think Scottish fans should be really proud of how their team are going and the job Steve’s doing.
“I’m sure there’ll be a huge reaction to the result, but we’ve just said that for three days and I’m sure Steve’s sensible enough to keep calm about that.
“We played well, we’ve won the game, but on another night that can look very different.”
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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