Tuesday 4 June 2019 13:18, UK
The success of Premier League teams in Europe can help England to win their first trophy since 1966, believes former England international Kevin Davies.
For the first time in history, there were four English teams in the finals of the two major European tournaments, with Liverpool beating Tottenham 2-0 to win the Champions League and Chelsea winning 4-1 against Arsenal to lift the Europa League trophy.
With England preparing for the Nations League finals, former Bolton and Southampton striker Davies believes that Gareth Southgate is in a better position than many England managers before him.
“Southgate is in a fortunate position now that he’s got a good squad of players and it’s been a while since we’ve been there with England," Davies, who won one cap, told Sky Sports News.
“Not just the Spurs and Liverpool players, the likes of Callum Wilson, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho. There’s such good young players that he’ll be able to call on.”
As the Liverpool and Spurs players return to the England squad, Davies thinks that the success of the Premier League teams will create a winning mentality among the squad.
“The positives are that Southgate now has young and older players like Jordan Henderson who are playing, reaching the latter stages and now winning European tournaments," he added.
“That can only bode well for him and he’ll want to try and emulate that with England. He’s got players now that have the knowledge and confidence to go into big games and win them.
“That will help Southgate and England going forward into these major tournaments, including the Nations League.”
It’s not just the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Henderson that will be looking to repeat their club success for England, Davies spoke of other players who’ll be wanting to continue their good run of form.
“Players like [Ross] Barkley and [Raheem] Sterling, they’ll be on a high having won those trophies (the Europa League and Premier League respectively). They’ll want to keep playing football and winning games," believes Davies.
But what about the players who tasted defeat in the finals? Spurs’ Danny Rose, Eric Dier and Dele Alli are all included in the 23-man Nations League squad, with Harry Kane captaining the Three Lions.
“On the flip side, there’s a chance that the recent games may have a negative effect on the Spurs players obviously," said Davies.
“It’s up to Gareth Southgate and his staff to get amongst the players who have returned and see how they are not just physically but mentally as well.”
However, Davies believes that the players will look at the Nations League as an opportunity to right their wrongs.
“The likes of Harry Kane will want to take the opportunity to lift silverware with England and use it as a chance to refocus.
“The squad atmosphere and environment that Southgate has created will help Spurs players to recover.”
England face the Netherlands in Guimarães on Thursday 6 June live on Sky Sports Football from 7pm, kick-off 7.45pm. The Three Lions will then face either Portugal or Switzerland in a final or third place play-off on Sunday 9 June.
