Gareth Southgate wants relaxed England at U21 Championship
Monday 15 June 2015 11:21, UK
Gareth Southgate says he will be running a relaxed camp for his players during the European U21 Championship in the Czech Republic.
Southgate and his 23-man squad landed in the Czech Republic on Sunday to begin final preparations for their tournament opener against Portugal on Thursday.
The England Under-21 manager claims his young players are responsible enough for him not to impose strict rules and he says he will even allow English culinary favourites like baked beans and ketchup to be on the menu.
"Although it is a young team, you have to give them responsibility," he said.
"They have never betrayed that responsibility. I don't have a load of rules. They know they have got to be respectful, which is being on time for things and so on.
"When you have lists of rules and fines, No 1, someone has to collect the things. That is a problem in itself, and No 2, I'm not sure that is discipline.
"That is just putting rules up. I'm not sure that means anything."
England will be based in Olomouc, the sixth largest city in the Czech Republic and Southgate is happy for his players to roam into the city centre after training and mix with the locals.
I don't have a load of rules. They know they have got to be respectful, which is being on time for things and so on.
There is also no chance of Southgate adopting a Fabio Capello-style ban on ketchup either.
"Too right (there will be ketchup)," he said. "I'm not banning baked beans either. The players have got to be relaxed enough so that they play.
"I have said to them: 'Look - we know internally what our objective is' - but we want this to be a good life experience for them as well.
"This is part of preparation for going into the seniors.
"We are staying in an area that is far enough out of town that we are not going to be swamped but it is close enough for them to walk in and have a cup of coffee, meet local people or go and see their families."
At senior and Under-21 level, England have performed poorly at their most recent tournaments.
Roy Hodgson's men failed to win a single game in Brazil last summer and crashed out of the tournament at the group stages.
And in the last European Under-21 Championship, Stuart Pearce's side lost all three group games and failed to score from open play.
Hodgson took sports psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters to Brazil to try to help the senior players with the stresses and strains of tournament football, but Southgate will not be doing the same.
Southgate said: "It's not an area that we have got covered as well as we should but it is an area we are constantly reviewing.
"We are constantly trying to look at the characters and personalities of the players and how we help them. The coach has to be that person but there are areas that they can help."
After taking on Portugal, England face Sweden and Italy in their two remaining group matches.
With the likes of Harry Kane, Saido Berahino, Danny Ings, Nathan Redmond and John Stones in their squad, England are among the favourites to win the tournament.
Southgate is very optimistic about his team's chances of success.
He said: "We have belief in them.
"When I look elsewhere, what I'm not seeing is countries where I go: 'We are miles behind them in youth development'."
