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Going to a three-man defense at the 2018 World Cup was widely hailed as a masterstroke by Gareth Southgate. However, the jury is still out on whether reverting to a similar form will prove just as effective when it matters most.
As a disciple of former Three Lions boss Terry Venables, Southgate is inevitably drawn to a back three in the quest for greater stability and optimal balance, and there have been signs that Southgate’s 3-4-3 system may cause the better equipment problems. especially in the second half of Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Belgium. England probed the Belgian defense for long periods, albeit without testing Red Devils goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois very often.
Jack Grealish was the biggest lead by some distance, growing in confidence and influence as the game progressed. He was the player with the most fouls in the first 20 minutes and in the end Belgium couldn’t even get close enough to knock him down, a sublime turn that left Thomas Meunier for dead exemplifying the ease with which he took his first competitive international start. .
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The 25-year-old led the fight as Belgium sat camped on the edge of their own box, content with their two-goal lead, and England’s system allowed the Aston Villa midfielder to be so prominent that the visitors’ inability to score was partially explicable by poor execution from promising positions rather than a complete absence of creativity.
“I’m not sure we could have been more creative than we finished tonight,” Southgate said after the game. “We ended up with five: two wingers and three forwards. I think we showed that against Wales and Ireland you can score goals with the system. Against the best teams, the games are close. Personally, it gives me more confidence. As a coach, you have to focus on performance and if you play at the level we did tonight, you will win more games than you lose.
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“It has been helpful for Jack to sleep with the group so that he knows the way we want to play and the players understand each other with him. Today was a great game for us to watch and I couldn’t talk enough about his performance.”
However, the stability and balance that Southgate sought was largely absent in the first half, ultimately causing them to lose the match. They were too conservative with the ball in midfield, a problem rectified in part by the introduction of Harry Winks as a half-time substitute for Jordan Henderson, who reported muscle tension and “felt like he couldn’t go on” according to Southgate. doubt. sounding more alarms at Liverpool who have already lost Joe Gómez to a serious knee injury during this international break.
And mitigation should come in the form of notable absences, including Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire, Raheem Sterling and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
But even with those players available, there is growing evidence that the 3-4-3 form does not maximize England’s strengths, most notably the rich variety of attacking talent that this time last year caused many to argue that England possess one of the best attack lines in the world. football.
After reaching the Nations League semi-finals on a 4-3-3 system in June 2019, Southgate persisted with the same formation in last year’s fall and winter matches.
England’s limitations were exposed on a disappointing night against Belgium in which the hosts enjoyed a very comfortable victory. Vincent Van Doornick / Isosport
Those six games yielded five victories with 26 goals scored. The opposition was modest: Kosovo and Bulgaria twice, Montenegro at home and Czech Republic away – the only game England lost in that streak when Southgate changed form to 4-2-3-1.
Since adopting a 3-4-3 system, England have won a six point against Denmark, secured a somewhat serendipitous victory against Belgium and beat two teams with severe force in Wales and the Republic of Ireland.
This does not suggest that Southgate should drop the course. Indeed, their performance in the loss to Belgium was arguably their most threatening of the 2020-21 season, but England are out of the Nations League after scoring just three goals in five games.
Southgate argued that England were simply unlucky enough to lose here. Youri Tielemans ‘first shot in the 10th minute benefited from a helpful deflection by Tyrone Mings, and while Dries Mertens’ free kick in the 23rd minute was superbly executed, Declan Rice was harshly punished for a tackle to Kevin De Bruyne. gave the opportunity to shoot at target.
And England will regret that Harry Kane cleared a header from Romelu Lukaku’s line at 1-0, Kane testing Courtois in the first half and then failing to make the most of all three shooting opportunities in the second, but ultimately this adds to the growing list of disappointing results against superior teams.
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Southgate claimed before the game that England need to “hunt down” the best teams, but it is hard to escape the conclusion at this point that they have sacrificed too much attacking power in an attempt to find greater solidity, and the latter is not yet available. . .
A reminder of Southgate’s commitment to 3-4-3 came in their substitutions, featuring Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jadon Sancho, but still refusing to change form. Calvert-Lewin played as a right-back, despite operating as a center forward for Everton, while Sancho was deployed as a right-back, for the first time in his formative career in England.
That only partially resolved the lack of rhythm in the attacking areas in the first half, which left England looking unduly dull when Kane fell deep, a trait he now does so effectively in Tottenham, just from the absence. of runners behind the defense of Belgium for Service.
This is not a critique of Grealish or Mason Mount specifically, but it is a different story for Kane at Spurs with Heung-Min Son as the most obvious beneficiary and perhaps it would be again if Sterling, Rashford or Sancho had started here.
“Sure we had a different profile of players, but in those positions, I thought Jack had an outstanding game and is a different type of player,” Southgate said.
“As a different type of threat, we knew we had players who needed to get closer to the ball, but losing Raheem and Marcus we lost a lot of speed up front. Tonight we didn’t quite have it, but I can’t blame the attacking game, probably until the last chance or the last pass a couple of times, but we create many more opportunities than we create [when beating Belgium 2-1 in October] at Wembley “.
Of course, the big picture is still a work in progress. After Wednesday’s Nations League game against Iceland, Southgate will have four months to scrutinize and assess the wave of internationals condensed into a short period of time.
And Grealish’s performance against Belgium was a reminder that England now have more than a handful of talented people capable of winning over the best teams in the area. But turning that into a tournament winning formula remains the challenge.
Source: espn.co.uk
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