England icon Tony Adams proven right about Gareth Southgate as Three Lions limp to Iceland defeat
Tony Adams feared England would remain plucky losers
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Tony Adams' fears about Gareth Southgate appear to have come true after England's dismal 1-0 defeat to Iceland in their final Euro 2024 warm-up game.
Boos rang around Wembley at the full-time whistle on Friday night after a disappointing display from an England side that featured most of its likely starters for the Euros.
England head into the tournament - Southgate's fourth major event as head coach - as strong favourites to go all the way and win it all.
The 53-year-old managed to win over a large portion of those who criticised his appointment back in 2016 and took them to the European Championship final in 2020.
Tony Adams feared England would remain plucky losers
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That led to certain expectations for the World Cup in 2022 and many felt it was a missed opportunity against France in the semi-finals.
Adams was one of those after England were knocked out of the Qatar World Cup that thought it was time to move on from Southgate to bring in a 'serial winner'.
He said at the time: "I’m fed up with us being plucky losers.
"After we lost to France all the talk was: 'Well done England, jolly good defeat, keep your heads high'.
"This is the mentality we have to change.
"They’re all nice people in the England camp. Gareth Southgate’s lovely, Stevie Holland is wonderful, Chris Powell is a beautiful man.
"But they need an experienced, serial winner around the place.
"Gareth doesn’t lack courage, he has tremendous courage. But he’s a good loser. It’s hard to say that but it’s the truth."
England's performance against Iceland on the eve of the Euros does little to prove Adams wrong on his brutal assessment from 18 months ago.
England lacked any cutting edge
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Southgate's side didn't exactly need to find top gear against Iceland, who are ranked 72nd in the world, but they would have been expected to show something to give them momentum heading into their opening Euros game against Serbia next Sunday
.Instead, England now head to Germany with a cloud hanging over their head with questions once again being asked on whether Southgate's side can go all the way.
Southgate attempted to play down the result after the match as nothing other than a minor setback.
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Gareth Southgate didn't appear too worried
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"We'll be ready," he said.
"Tonight hasn't gone as we would have hoped.
"I said to the players that not every day will go as you want and tonight was one of those.
"But also, not everything will be wrong. We had enough chances really to win the game, but we conceded too many chances as well."