Former England international Stuart Pearce has been left disappointed with the Three Lions’ recent performances, urging Gareth Southgate to find a way to boost the team’s creativity.
England, who are fourth in the FIFA Men’s World Rankings, took on 66th-ranked North Macedonia in their final 2024 European Championship qualifier in Skopje on Monday night (November 20). Despite fielding a strong XI, Southgate’s men failed to dominate the hosts, needing a second-half own goal from Jani Atanasov to salvage a 1-1 draw. Before their draw with North Macedonia, England secured a mediocre 2-0 victory over Malta at Wembley last week.
Stuart Pearce Wants England To Improve Chance-Creation
Speaking on talkSPORT, Pearce said that “alarm bells” would be ringing for Southgate after seeing his team fail to create clear-cut goalscoring chances.
Pearce opined (via The Daily Mail):
“I have got to say alarm bells will be ringing in regards to these two games [Malta and North Macedonia].
“We just haven’t been able to break teams down freely. I think that is an Achilles heel of ours. As a counter-attacking team, where teams come on to us, we aren’t bad when we have space. But we’ve got to work out how to break these teams down.”
The former England full-back also criticized Southgate’s team’s build-up play, saying they played too many short passes and the transition was not quick enough.
He added:
“I think our build-up from the back line is too slow and easy to defend.
“We are too slow in midfield. We need to mix it up. There are too many short passes.”
Between the matches against Malta and North Macedonia, England only lodged five shots on target. It is, however, important to note that Southgate did not have the impressive Jude Bellingham at his disposal in either of those games.
Jack Grealish Was England’s Best Performer Against North Macedonia
Manchester City winger Jack Grealish was in impressive form in the draw with North Macedonia. His passing was noteworthy, he took defenders on, and held the ball well even under pressure. Grealish also found the back of the net in the 47th minute, but VAR ruled it out for offside.
On Monday, Grealish completed 44 passes (85% accuracy), created two chances, completed seven of eight dribbles, and won a match-high 13 duels.
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