Gareth Southgate has declared “anything is possible” for England’s new generation stars.
“The younger teams, if they’re strong and they have success, and are in the habit of winning, it’s going to breed belief — belief and also expectation,” Southgate said.
“So for a long time we’ve been going into tournaments, worrying about what might happen and a little bit I think sometimes we’ve forgotten about going to try and win.
“We’ve got to try and shift the mindset. It’s fundamental.
“And with those young players coming through, the experience of winning against other nations, the experience of winning in tournament situations, that can only be good for us moving forward and we have belief in those young players.
“And although there’s always a risk in bringing young players in, they bring an energy and an enthusiasm which I think has captivated everybody.
“I don’t think it’s for me to put a limit on what they might achieve. Over the next few years for these guys I believe anything is possible.
“Whether next summer, if you look historically at the number of caps of successful teams and the experiences of successful teams, whether we’d be at that level yet remains to be seen.
“We haven’t beaten the top teams in our last few games but we are competitive in those games, so I’ve got to encourage them and give them the platform to go and express themselves. They are embracing that.
“There’s still a long way for this group to go and there’s a lot of improvement needed.”
Southgate’s men have been placed in Pot 2 in League A, along with France, Switzerland and Italy, ahead of the Jan. 24 draw in Lausanne, Switzerland.
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