England boss Gareth Southgate must be the first person off the team bus and the first person on the pitch tonight, according to Jose Mourinho. The Three Lions lock horns with Italy in the final of Euro 2020. And it promises to be a belter of a showdown at Wembley.
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“He has to be the first one on the pitch to make the players feel he’s happy to be there.
“Because, in spite of their experience, they will be looking at him for this final.
“When players have doubts, they look at you, as a manager, they analyse you.
“They see how you behave, how you react.”
Mourinho also thinks the midfield is where the match will be won and lost, hailing the strengths of both teams in the process.
“Italy’s midfield is super talented — Jorginho, Marco Verratti, Nicolo Barella, with Manuel Locatelli and Bryan Cristante incredible solutions from the bench,” he said.
“It was a big decision for England to stick with Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice — a very strong statement which said, ‘We are not here to entertain, we are not here to be an amazing football team’.
“It’s a big lesson for some people who think the most important thing in football is to be beautiful. In the end, we realise what this country wants most is to win the Euros.
“If everyone was expecting Rice to start, it was not even 100 per cent sure that Phillips would be in the squad. But he has become fundamental to England.
“Then, Jordan Henderson shows what a captain is. A captain of Liverpool, he does not need an armband to be a captain for England. He’s there to come on when the team needs fresh legs and stability.
“It’s not easy to stop Italy playing but it’s easier to stop them creating, by being compact, having a lower defensive block.
“What is difficult is to control possession. If Jorginho is playing for Chelsea and your No 10 presses him, it’s difficult for them.
England players will be out to make history in Italy Euro 2020 final (Image: GETTY)
“But if you do that to Jorginho with Italy, he moves away, takes the opponent away and leaves space for Verratti — and Verratti is as good as Jorginho in that position.
“Spain created problems for Italy in an unexpected way. They played without a striker and Dani Olmo in midfield, so when Spain had the ball they had four midfield players and that was difficult for Italy.
“Harry Kane can do the same. He can drop and go into areas where, instead of Jorginho being focused on Mason Mount, he is divided between Mount and Kane.”
Mourinho also hailed Southgate for being brave against Denmark by substituting Jack Grealish - despite previously introducing the Aston Villa star.
“When Gareth Southgate took off Jack Grealish in extra time, having introduced him as a sub against Denmark, it was the move of a coach with great belief in himself,” he said.
England boss Gareth Southgate has been hailed for brave Jack Grealish call against Denmark (Image: GETTY)
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“He had decided the team is more important than anything and the emotional consequences of his decisions don’t matter.
“I think he could have taken another player off, and not a fresh Grealish, and maybe bring on a fresh Marcus Rashford to kill off Denmark.
“Because after England went ahead, I never sensed any danger from the Danes.
“I did something similar once at Wembley — it was Manchester United against Leicester in the 2016 Community Shield.
“I played Juan Mata as a sub and we scored late on and in the last couple of minutes, I took Mata off to secure the result because I was feeling danger from Leicester.
“Mata was not happy and I had to explain my decision — and it is easier to persuade the player when you win.”