Gareth Southgate has introduced an unprecedented ban on the England players this tournament.
As per the report from The Mirror, the players have been banned from talking about penalties in order to keep their spot kick secrets safe.
England scored all 5 of their penalties to beat Switzerland 5-3 and advance through to the semis.
Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold all did their job while Everton keeper Jordan Pickford successfully saved Akanji’s penalty to send the Three Lions through.
There was quite a lot of buzz following the win but the report reveals that Southgate does not want the penalties to become an obsession. To avoid that, players have been blocked from talking about the shootouts.
England’s improved penalty record under Gareth Southgate
England are enjoying a great record in penalty shootouts under Gareth Southgate so far. England won only one of seven shoot-outs prior to Southgate taking charge in 2016.
They have now won three of their last 4 penalty shoot-outs under Southgate, marking a great bit of improvement in this area.
The improvement has a lot of work put into behind the scenes. The report also reveals that Southgate has used several other strategies to improve England’s record at penalties, including a psychologist, analysts and intense practice sessions.
England will not face Netherlands in the semi-finals of the tournament and will be just one win away from reaching their second consecutive Euro final.