John Stones has admitted that England are working hard to get back to the “fluid football” they used to play earlier in Gareth Southgate’s tenure.
England are in the quarter-finals of the European Championship but performances have been underwhelming and Stones said on Thursday afternoon that the team know that they have to improve.
England play Switzerland in the quarter-final on Saturday, after a dramatic turnaround win against Slovakia last Sunday, and Stones revealed he thought England were “going home” just one hour into it when they were still 1-0 down.
“I said after the (Slovakia) game that now we’ve got to go to the training pitch as we have done this week, and brush up on a few things,” Stones said. “And try to get ourselves playing back to where we were: that fluid football, exciting football, creating more chances. Which is what we all want as players, and I’m sure everyone at home and in the stands does as well.”
England have had a free week between the Slovakia and Switzerland games, and Stones said that it has been a positive time working to improve things ahead of the quarter-final.
England have worked on possibly switching to a back three system ahead of the game.”We work on different presses, systems, shapes, build-ups,” Stones said.
“We’ve got to improve as a team, and how we’re playing our football. We worked really hard on doing that, and get the best out of us as players and as a collective. It’s been a great few days.
“Obviously one more tomorrow before the game. Hopefully, we can fine-tune a few things that we worked on over the past two days and see where it takes us.”
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When asked whether the priority on Saturday was to win or entertain, Stones said it was both.
“I’ve said it for the past few games now, that we need to keep progressing, and keep trying to play our fluid football that we’re used to,” he said. “But I don’t want to discredit the other night either.
“I thought we were going home after 60 minutes of the game. And to change the mindset of us all and keep that belief and faith, it’s got a lot of power. Everyone watching at home knows we’re there to do it right until the last minute, literally. And then we should take great confidence from that, that’s something that’s not easy to do, especially in a high-pressure game.
“Understandably fans weren’t happy with the performance, we recognise that, and I think we used that as fuel, to try and go that extra mile and make it count. We did that.”
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Stones hopes the dramatic Slovakia win can transform the momentum of England’s campaign.
“I think it’s a turning point for us as well emotionally, to do it in such a high-pressured moment,” he said.
“I believe that it’s going to change a lot of things for us as a team, going through those emotions. It’s a great picture of us celebrating that goal, and all the bench are up, all the staff in the stands are up off their seats, it just shows that unity and togetherness, in us as a team.
“I think when you’ve done these things you believe then even more that you can do better, when it gets tough you can always re-capture these moments and know we can do it again.”
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