England didn’t TRY to beat Scotland! Jose Mourinho insists Three Lions showed ‘no risk or desire’ to beat their bitter rivals and says a ‘fear of losing’ impacted Gareth Southgate’s subs at Wembley
Jose Mourinho has claimed Gareth Southgate‘s ‘fear of losing’ was behind England’s drab display against Scotland as the Portuguese hit out at the Three Lions’ lack of ‘desire’ in the Wembley stalemate.
England entered their Group D showdown with the Auld Enemy as strong favourites having gotten their Euros campaign off to a strong start with a 1-0 win over Croatia on Sunday.
However, Steve Clarke’s side were the better of the two sides over 90 minutes, limiting Harry Kane & Co to few chances while posing a threat to Jordan Pickford‘s goal.
Jose Mourinho has hit out at England’s lack of ‘risk and desire’ during Scotland stalemate
The Three Lions came unstuck against the Scots, and were unable to find a breakthrough goal
Friday’s 0-0 draw leaves England on four points and with a strong chance of qualification for the knockout rounds, but Three Lions fans were left underwhelmed by the showing against the Scots.
And Mourinho believes that Southgate’s decision not to withdraw Kalvin Phillips in the second half demonstrated a ‘fear of losing’ with the England boss unwilling to make the changes required to go for victory.
‘I didn’t see any risk or desire from England to gamble and try and win,’ Mourinho told talkSPORT via The Sun.
‘If England needed to beat Scotland then I think Phillips would have been subbed around the 60th minute for more creativity. But a fear of losing kept him on the pitch.
Mourinho claims that Gareth Southgate’s ‘fear of losing’ was behind their lack of adventure
‘The pragmatism of the result and qualification [from the group] showed itself clearly from minute 70 to 75, that it was more important than the emotion of the game or the desire to win against a historical rival.’
Mourinho also reflected that Southgate was correct in selecting full backs Luke Shaw and Reece James, but the pair did not offer enough going forwards to help create opportunities on goal.
While Mourinho’s criticism of England was particularly scathing, the former Spurs, Man United and Chelsea boss believes the Three Lions are ‘fine’ and will advance to the next round.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese lavished praise on ‘amazing’ Scotland, hailing Clarke’s side for their approach to the crunch clash at Wembley.
‘Steve Clark organised the game tactically very well, but more important than that was their spirit – they came not just for a football match, they were coming for a football match against England at Wembley.
‘They were united and ready to fight, but confident enough to play. They go home as heroes and the door is still open for them to qualify against Croatia, who are not showing a huge threat.’
More to follow.
