England defender Southgate looks to Argentina and beyond

Aston Villa central defender Gareth Southgate will start tonight’s England friendly match against Argentina capping an excellent last few weeks having just seen his Villa side into the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Considering their poor form during the first half of the season it is a remarkable recovery.

“It's been a huge turn around for us. I think just before Christmas we lost at Coventry, and it was looking very bleak, and there was a lot of talk of the manager going and he was obviously under a lot of pressure, but we got a reprieve at West Ham and then we came back from 1-0 down at half time at home to Sheffield Wednesday and from there, you know, things just snowballed. So Sunday's performance summed up a change of attitude and a change of will to win, I suppose, as much as anything.”

Along side Gareth is Aston Villa teammate Gareth Barry, who has also been called up for the England squad, Southgate has watched his rise through the Villa ranks.

“He's progressing really well. I mean he came in and had a fantastic spell in the team last year, then had – the team had a dip towards the end of the season and I think we all suffered through that, but he's come back and because of his age he's still physically getting stronger and quicker, and I think that's shown in his game this year, and that's added to the natural talent that, you know, everyone has seen that he's got.

“I think to be fair the club he's starting at is a good place to start, because although we are a big club, I don't think we've the spotlight that maybe some of the boys who play in London, or the lads at United and clubs like that have.

“You know, I still think there will be a lot of people up and down the country that probably haven't even seen him play. So in many respects that's good, because he's been able to progress and make some of his mistakes without them being highlighted too much.

“Clearly once you're called into the England squad, the focus of attention goes on to you a bit more, but, you know, the way he's been playing, certainly the last three months or so, he shouldn't have any qualms about coming into training with this group of players, if he's required on Wednesday, to go into the game with a lot of confidence.”

Gareth first made his name in the England squad four years ago when media pressure on football was not so intense. It seems astonishing to what extent the game has changed during those short few years.

“I think there seems to be a lot more younger players involved in the squad, but what's noticeable is that I think our younger -- not just footballers but sports stars seem to be able to cope with that a lot better. They don't seem to have any -- I think when you're their age you just enjoy the game and play the game and not worry too much about the outside pressures.

“I think when you get older, you're a bit more concerned about making mistakes, possibly, whereas the youngsters think -- you don't have that fear when you're first in the side, you just go and play naturally, and it's only now when people started to point out mistakes to you that then that possibly sticks in your mind a bit more.

“I think the game is huge globally anyway, and always has been, but the number of media outlets that are available now, whether it's Internet or press or television, the number of stations that are required to fill news slots, you know, hour after hour, not just day after day, people need stories, and so possibly things that wouldn't have been a big story five or six years ago come to the forefront.”

Such as David Beckham’s exclusion from the Manchester United squad at the weekend.

“No, that's right. I guess that's a sign of the high profile of a lot of the players now, that they have become in the same bracket as pop stars and actors in terms of their media profile, and to the fact that they are a newsworthy item. I think every club probably has their own guidelines. I mean some clubs -- we don't even have a press officer at our club, so we clearly don't feel that there’s too much spotlight on us.

“I think individual players deal with it in their own way, and it's not a topic of conversation that really comes up. It might do as we get towards the major championships, and the usual stories start to come round, but, no, I don't think it's something that unduly concerns us.

“I think when you're a youngster, at school, you don't imagine that this sort of thing happens, you know. You're just looking to break into a Premier League team, and all that you're concentrating on is football, and then you -- all of a sudden, to be honest, to be thrown in front of you guys at 17, 18, 19, is an experience that (a) they've probably not been prepared for by the clubs, which is probably something that needs to be looked at, and (b) is something that they've not considered in all their years of progression through youth team football. It's totally alien to any players, really.”

Thoughts on tonight’s game with Argentina.

“Well, I think it's the flip side to the coin. There's almost a revenge angle on what happened during the World Cup, but also it's an important preparation game for the summer. I think games between England and Argentina, because of the importance of them over the last two or three occasions we've met have that extra edge. But I think for the group of players that are here this week, it's a case of testing ourselves against one of the top teams in the world, and, you know, with the performances that we've had lately, we need to give a good display on Wednesday to try to get everybody positive for the summer.”

England next meet up in May almost three months away from this Wednesday nights match. Could this add an extra emphasis to beat Argentina?

“There is, and that's something that I think – I mean, it's not ideal for a manager, I'm sure, to only have us really just tomorrow to train before such a big game, but that's why it's important, I think, to -- because although we got through against Scotland, it was a big disappointment to lose to them, and that's taken the edge off what should have been a very positive three months for England looking into the summer. It's been a real downer on things and we're conscious of the fact that we want to raise everybody's hopes again.”