Harry Maguire says defenders are unable to make contact in the box without the risk of conceding a penalty, following the controversial awarding of a spot-kick to North Macedonia vs England on Monday night.
A long ball forward saw England debutant Rico Lewis challenge Bojan Miovski in the area and head clear, but a trailing arm on the North Macedonia forward was spotted by VAR, forcing referee Filip Glova to point to the spot.
Bardhi saw his initial spot-kick saved by Pickford, but slammed in the rebound as England went in behind on the break.
Maguire showed his disapproval towards the referee after the decision, so much so he said Glova "gave them a goal".
"It was a crazy decision," he said.
"I've said it for numerous months now: it's making the lives even more harder for us defenders. Even in the Premier League, week in, week out, we're playing against top-quality forwards and we can't move our body.
"We can't defend, can't make contact, can't put your arms out. It's just too harsh, too soft penalties and for me, it's never a penalty.
"Rico reacted really, really well from it and we put in a big performance after that."
Gareth Southgate's team rounded off their 2023 schedule with an unconvincing 2-0 win over Malta on Friday, before the 1-1 draw with North Macedonia in Skopje.
Despite an underwhelming end to their qualifying campaign, these were two results that ensured they got the points they needed to wrap up a Pot 1 spot in the Euro 2024 draw, which takes place in Hamburg on Saturday December 2.
Maguire admits England's final two Euro 2024 qualifiers did not pan out as hoped, but says they are "in a great place" regardless.
As a result, Maguire was upbeat when asked to summarise England's year.
"It's been a great year for us,"
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