Newly named England manager Gareth Southgate has described any action from his players that could increase pressure and scrutiny on the team as "not intelligent."
Southgate, who signed a four-year contract on Wednesday, after being in caretaker charge for the last four games, still found himself dealing with the fallout of Wayne Rooney being pictured drinking until the early hours of the morning, while on duty with the squad in November.
Rooney subsequently apologised for his ill-timed night out, and Southgate confirmed he was still the England captain, even though he "doesn't expect to play in every game."
Southgate was asked if he had "read the riot act" to the Manchester United forward, but said it would be "difficult to read any riot acts three months after something has happened."
However, he did concede that players picked for the national team had to be careful in how they behaved.
"There is a level of expectation when you are with England," he said. "We talk about pressure and we spend most of our time trying to relieve it, so if we put ourselves in positions where we are going to increase that pressure it is not intelligent.
"I think it is important as a playing squad and group of staff we recognise that and we want to be a top team, so if we want that everything we do has to be geared towards improving.
"There has to be time to unwind, there is a time to have a glass of beer or wine, but that has got to be done at the appropriate time and at the right level if we aren't going to inhibit the way we perform.
"Being an England player comes with additional responsibility to being a player playing club football. But laying down the law is not necessary. I like to treat players with respect, as adults.
"There have to be guidelines, but the players have to take some leadership. Look at the elite teams: there's a clear process of the players knowing what responsibility looks like. If we're going to be a top team, I want them involved in that."
Southgate tried his best not to address the controversy directly, rather seeming keen to treat it as an opportunity.
"When I took over, I changed a lot of things about the way we trained and prepared," he said. "Some things I kept in place. On the back of those four matches, it's an opportunity to reflect and adapt.
"We want to be a winning team, and every aspect of our training or preparing has to be towards achieving that. We can pause and reflect now, talk to the players and get their thoughts and feelings on that, and, as the leader, guide where we go."
Southgate's contract, perhaps slightly surprisingly, does not contain a break clause after the 2018 World Cup, something that FA chief executive Martin Glenn explained by saying they are looking beyond simply that tournament.
"Logically you offer a long-term contract," he said. "You could have got someone in to just do a job for us in Russia but that is not what we need. Having an eye on the development of the younger players coming through and the talent identification that Gareth can see, that is what we need. That needs a longer contract than normal."
On what he wanted from his England team, Southgate said he was looking for "a team who excite the public, that supporters look forward to watching. And ultimately that they're proud of. If we achieve those things, we'll be on the right course.
"First of all we need a clear style of play, a clear understanding of how we want to play. I believe we have players who can play a high pressing game which will excite the supporters as well. It's what we want to see.
"And we have to be savvy about our game management and intelligence, which maybe we didn't show in the last 10 minutes against Spain. We have to piece all those things together."