England: What’s different?
England have been under the stewardship of Gareth Southgate for four tournaments now, reaching heights we never thought possible, yet ultimately falling short on each occasion.
Each tournament, Southgate’s tactics; or lack thereof, have been scrutinised to no ends, and yet we’ve always gone far, and had at least a few games where the Three Lions look like the real deal. This time, that momentum is yet to reach the England camp, so what’s different?
The English media will forever be fierce on our England team, but this Euros it feels as though the heat is higher than ever for Gareth and his 26. Going back to the last Euros in 2021, England would win the group with seven points, despite only scoring two goals.
Revenge would be secured, beating Croatia in the opener, surviving the banana skin of Scotland in game two, and scraping past the Czech Republic in the final group game. Job done, but as usual, some below par performances.
This, has tended to be a theme under Southgate, starting slowly, but getting the job done, no matter the slow speed of performance. In 2021, England would go onto to make the final, in a run which included a stellar performance to beat the German’s 2-0 on home soil.
In the following tournament, Qatar 2022, the trend continued, but showed a bit more life. England would demolish Iran in the opener, yet falter to a draw against the USA, before getting back up to speed against Wales. England top the group, scoring seven goals, which almost matches 2018, when the Three Lions scored five.
What’s important to note here, is the continued patterns. In World Cups, we often start slow but find a rhythm quicker, albeit against lower ranked opponents. The trend is the same in the Euros, but opponents are better, thus resulting in more defensive games, and less goals.
The same can be said for when England go into the knockout rounds. In 2018, the first time we faced a top 10 ranked opponent, we fell short, the same can be said about 2022. 2021, is the exception, but England would falter in that final against Italy, and the fact of home soil, needs to be accounted for.
In all the tournaments previously, Southgate has had a set group of players who have either started from the off or had a huge impact from the bench. There is a strong reliance on experience and that is where things start to differ for Euro 2024.
In 2018, Harry Maguire and Harry Kane were huge for England, Maguire is injured in 2024. In 2021, Raheem Sterling and Kalvin Phillips were the standouts as England reached that final, both are not at the same level and not in the squad this year. In 2022, the formula continued, adding Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish to the category, both not in this squad. Whilst on form, none of these players should be in the England side, it is something that Southgate is struggling with.
For the last six years, England have had an almost set side, with small changes here and there. The back four has almost been set in stone, with Kane always starting as captain. This is the first time under Southgate, where that spine and constant members are no longer the same. No Maguire, Grealish, Rashford, Phillips or even his trusty side-kick Jordan Henderson. The landscape has changed.
On paper, this squad is better than the three previous, yet on the pitch looks unbalanced, confused and lost.
We could all argue for hours about the lack of tactical knowledge that Southgate has, but right now it is up to him and his staff to get this side firing, quickly, just like he has done in years past, but this time without those reliable old figures.
In truth, there is a lot of variables for Southgate to deal with in this Euro’s, including the players individual performances themselves, but he is the reason as England fans we can really dream of winning a tournament. Unfortunately, it is also on him to take us there and walk away as he deserves, otherwise he will go down as the man who took us so far, but not all the way.
