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Gareth Southgate said England\u2019s players fell short of the standards they \u201cneed to be at\u201d against Malta but had no concerns about their attitude and aptitude ahead of next summer\u2019s European Championship.<\/p>\n
Nobody at Wembley expected anything other than a victory from the side ranked fourth in the world against the one nestled between Fiji and Bermuda in 171st.<\/p>\n
But already-qualified England made hard work of a straightforward Group C qualifying assignment on Friday, with Enrico Pepe\u2019s own goal giving the hosts a lead in a first half in which they failed to muster a single shot on target.<\/p>\n
Harry Kane added another after a rare moment of quality interplay in the second half as Southgate\u2019s side limped to a 2-0 victory that all but assures their place among the top seeds at next month\u2019s Euro 2024 draw.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t start the game well,\u201d the England boss said. \u201cI\u2019ve been in football for 35 years and if you don\u2019t start well, it\u2019s really difficult to pick it up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe needed, of course, to show better quality with the ball but also we were a bit stretched without it and a little bit disjointed in our pressing at times.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were not the level we would want to be at. We were not the level that we need to be at.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, equally, this group of players have been exceptional and I\u2019m not going to start getting into their ribs too much about a performance like tonight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made a few changes, we didn\u2019t hit the levels we would have liked to have but they managed to win the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot in the style we\u2019d have liked for the supporters but, in the end, we\u2019ve won comfortably, as we should.\u201d<\/p>\n
England now head onto Skopje to complete their Euro 2024 qualification campaign against North Macedonia as preparations continue for next summer.<\/p>\n
Glory in Germany is the sole focus and Southgate dismissed the suggestion that his players taking their foot off the gas at home to Malta was a worrying sign.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it\u2019s not a worry because I think sometimes when players have so many matches they almost self-regulate,\u201d Southgate said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been a player. You know that there\u2019s a certain level you need to hit to beat Italy here and you know that you don\u2019t have to hit that level to win today\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough you would think that everybody would be at the same level all the time, that\u2019s not the reality of football.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve played in those matches myself and there are nights where subconsciously you just do enough to win and I think that\u2019s a little bit where we were tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
England were below par for the most part on Friday, but Southgate still saw things he liked in their final home match of an unbeaten year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe scored a lovely second goal and I think there were some individual performances that were very positive,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Trent (Alexander-Arnold) was very, very good (in midfield). Him and Phil (Foden) in the first half were the two that looked like opening things up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Marc Guehi had a very mature performance again. He\u2019s really growing as an international footballer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was lovely to get Cole Palmer on and give him a feel of things and I thought he looked really very comfortable in the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The result meant Malta ended qualification bottom of Group C with defeats in all eight of their games, but they showed signs of promise against the Euro 2020 runners-up.<\/p>\n
Teddy Teuma went close to a famous opener just 28 seconds into the match at Wembley, where head coach Michele Marcolini praised his players\u2019 efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very proud of my players,\u201d the Malta boss said. \u201cI think they came here in Wembley without fear, always brave. We tried to be as offensive as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey reacted very, very well to falling behind. I think during these European qualifiers, we grew a lot and in these last matches against Ukraine and England played very well.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor everything, to grow, we need time. I am very happy with our performance and the regret is we didn\u2019t score. It would have been amazing.<\/p>\n
\u201cApart from that, we wanted to make the fans proud and I think today the players put on the pitch the last drop of sweat I asked them to do yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n