Under-fire Gareth Southgate says he is enjoying the “ultimate challenge” of trying to steer the England “juggernaut” to Euros glory as attention turns to improvements and knockout progress.
The road to Berlin has begun in unconvincing fashion for the Euro 2020 runners-up, with boos greeting the end of the 1-1 draw with Denmark and Tuesday’s 0-0 stalemate with Slovenia.
But England won Group C having started with a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Serbia at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, where they return for their first knockout match on Sunday.
Slovakia, who are ranked 45th in the world, stand in Southgate’s side way in the round of 16 – a stage they have progressed from in all three previous tournaments under the former defender.
“Everything that’s happened is now pretty irrelevant,” the England boss said. “We have things we can build on but this is also a different test, a different phase.
“Each game takes place on its own merit and can take a wild direction at times. This is the exciting part and it’s the bit nobody can predict.
“We need to find our next level, which I believe we can. Slovakia are a very well-coached team and they’ve got a clear playing identity.
“They want to play out from the back. Stanislav Lobotka is clearly key in that system. He dictates the tempo.
“They get numbers forward early, they press well, high and aggressively. You’ve got to find a way of breaking through that press. It’s a different sort of test.”
England are favourites for Sunday’s match but need a positive performance on top of progress to lift the mood around the team.
There has been widespread criticism and scrutiny of their stuttering displays in Germany, where the spotlight has focused largely on manager Southgate.
But the 53-year-old is undeterred and knows better than anyone the pressures that come with representing England, with this his four tournament as manager having been to four as a player.
“Absolutely (enjoying the challenge), it’s a brilliant challenge,” Southgate said, as reported by England Football.
“We’ve had different problems to solve as a team over the last few weeks and I’m the leader trying to connect all of that and keep the juggernaut that is the England football team on the right path. That’s how I’m viewing up.
“Every day I wake up and think what we need to do, the conversations that need to happen, the areas of the game we need to focus on. It’s the ultimate challenge.”
Southgate knows improvements are needed against Slovakia and, the nation hopes, beyond, but he says the “squad have reacted very well” after an underwhelming group stage.
“It wasn’t tighter than we thought, we knew that all four teams could take points off each other,” he said. “It highlights the level of European football really.
“We know that a lot of our players are better known, higher profile, but we’ve played so many teams outside the top 20 who are very good.
“We had it with Hungary in the Nations League a couple of years ago, you have to be at your best level.
“We haven’t hit the level yet but we have topped the group and now we have to improve faster than the rest of the teams basically.”