Gareth Southgate understood why fans booed his side after a dismal defeat to Iceland that the England manager hopes will “really focus the mind” heading into Euro 2024.
An expectant Wembley crowd let their frustrations known after an alarmingly poor performance in their last warm-up friendly against a side that will not even be at the finals in Germany.
Southgate’s side were toothless in attack and porous at the back, with Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson’s fine early finish securing Iceland another memorable win against England.
In 2016 that shock result ended their European Championship hopes, whereas the manager hopes Friday’s 1-0 loss can act as a catalyst to continental glory.
“You’d like a good performance, a crowd that’s been entertained and to be leaving on a high,” Southgate said after the send-off friendly. “Clearly the performance wasn’t at the level it needed to be.
“I think there are some very clear reasons for that, and it actually gives us a chance to really focus the mind because these last games going into tournaments can be a little bit scrappy like that in terms of focus, because players are worried about picking up an injury.
“The most disappointing part tonight was out of possession, we didn’t press well. We were too stretched.
“We’ve actually in the last two or three games, in particular, been excellent at that, so that’s the bit that we’ve really got to rectify.
“With the ball we could have been better, but we still created some very, very good chances.
“I think the players, or a lot of the players, needed the minutes – players that have been coming back from injury, players that have played a lot but have had a week’s break and are out of that rhythm.
“Of course, at the end, where you ideally want the experience on the pitch to keep the calm and work your way back into the game, we were needing to take those players off to look after them.
“Look, a far from ideal night. I’m not going to dress up the disappointment about the performance.
“But, equally, we have to stay calm because we know what needs to be put right and we’ll work on that between now and the game with Serbia.”
Friday’s friendly was supposed help build a feel-good factor heading into euros, with the Group C opener against Serbia looming large on June 16.
Instead, it ended with bored fans aiming paper planes at the pitch and those left inside Wembley at the final whistle booing.
“I completely understand,” Southgate said of the supporters’ reaction. “We didn’t play well enough to keep them excited within the game.
“As I said, we had some very, very good chances that normally would be finished, which could have given a different complexion to the game, and, of course, would have affected the confidence of the opponent.
“But that might also have masked some flaws that were apparent tonight.
“From my perspective, I’ve learned a lot from the game, but no qualms with the supporters’ reaction.
“To have the fans with you here obviously makes a massive difference, but you have to give them enough goalmouth action, you have to play well enough, press and win the ball with intensity to keep them with you during the game.
“Tonight we didn’t do that, so we have to accept the reaction as it was.”
Midfielder Declan Rice admitted losing to Iceland “isn't ideal” but also insisted the team will be ready "Inside I'm hurting, there’s work to be done,” he told englandfootball.com. “When you have that much of the ball, have a couple of clear-cut chances, and get beat 1-0 at home just before the euros it isn’t ideal.
“I’m going to take the positives. There were a lot of promising performances, we played with a good tempo, always tried to play forward. We have to be a little bit more savvy.”
As poor as the night was for England, they at least appear to have avoided new injury issues.
John Stones went down awkwardly in the opening minute and was withdrawn at half-time, with fellow centre-back Marc Guehi playing on despite taking a blow to the head in the second half.
Southgate said: “Marc, fine, I think. John, we decided at half-time, no point in taking any chances, because we’re obviously so close to the to the tournament, and he’s a very important player for us.”
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
'Falling%20for%20Christmas'
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
The specs: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Price, base: Dh198,300
Engine: 2.0L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 280hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 4 (Messi 23' pen, 45 1', 48', Busquets 85')
Celta Vigo 1 (Olaza 42')
Results:
5pm: Maiden (PA) | Dh80,000 | 1,200 metres
Winner: Jabalini, Szczepan Mazur (jockey), Younis Kalbani (trainer)
5.30pm: UAE Arabian Derby (PA) | Prestige | Dh150,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Octave, Gerald Avranche, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round 3 (PA) | Group 3 Dh300,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Harrab, Richard Mullen, Mohamed Ali
6.30pm: Emirates Championship (PA) | Group 1 | Dh1million | 2,200m
Winner: BF Mughader, Szczepan Mazur, Younis Al Kalbani
7pm: Abu Dhabi Championship (TB) | Group 3 | Dh380,000 | 2,200m
Winner: GM Hopkins, Patrick Cosgrave, Jaber Ramadhan
7.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) | Conditions | Dh70,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF La’Asae, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 630bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh810,000
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Tabby%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%20August%202019%3B%20platform%20went%20live%20in%20February%202020%3Cbr%3EFounder%2FCEO%3A%20Hosam%20Arab%2C%20co-founder%3A%20Daniil%20Barkalov%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Payments%3Cbr%3ESize%3A%2040-50%20employees%3Cbr%3EStage%3A%20Series%20A%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Arbor%20Ventures%2C%20Mubadala%20Capital%2C%20Wamda%20Capital%2C%20STV%2C%20Raed%20Ventures%2C%20Global%20Founders%20Capital%2C%20JIMCO%2C%20Global%20Ventures%2C%20Venture%20Souq%2C%20Outliers%20VC%2C%20MSA%20Capital%2C%20HOF%20and%20AB%20Accelerator.%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
