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LONDON – England has prioritized defining a clear sense of identity since Gareth Southgate took office in 2016. The 50-year-old’s attempt to deconstruct the inhibitions created by past failures and reimagine England as a young side without the History’s snags improbably led them to the World Cup Semifinals two years ago.
Belgium’s visit to Wembley offers a good opportunity to determine their progress since then, as the teams met twice in Russia with Roberto Martinez’s team winning both times. And while the result encourages England to remain robust enough to compete with the best teams, the form of this 2-1 win raises questions about what kind of team they are trying to be.
After all, a lot of this felt very much in 2018. Southgate is not the only one of us who remembers that summer fondly. Fans have never felt closer to the England team. Vests were the sartorial necessity at the time, not masks. But he was quick to remove his vest after the tournament in what could be described with a bit of artistic license as a metaphorical message to his players that it was time to move on, time to evolve.
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England were excellent at the 2018 World Cup, but in seven matches, they lost three times and cleverly exploited an acute understanding of the then novel VAR process to increase their performances. They played with a back three. Kyle Walker played center-back on the right side despite saying bluntly just days before England’s opener against Tunisia that “it’s a bit of a step back” to change from his preferred spot as right-back.
Both happened again here. For a long time, Walker looked predictably uncomfortable, England were openly cautious in their approach and looked palpably inferior in possession to a Belgian team led by the excellent Romelu Lukaku and orchestrated by the incomparable Kevin De Bruyne.
Lukaku scored from the penalty spot in the 16th minute, after being fouled by Eric Dier, and England struggled to gain a foothold in the game. A midfielder pair of Jordan Henderson and Declan Rice lacked creativity as they relentlessly sidestepped, leaving Dominic Calvert-Lewin to feed on the leftovers, albeit doing so with the voracious attitude and appetite that has led him to 10 goals with the club and the national team this season. .
Belgium are the best team in the world, according to FIFA rankings, so some degree of vigilance in Southgate’s lineup was understandable, especially with Harry Kane only able to get a bench spot due to “muscle fatigue” and Raheem Sterling completely absent. after sustaining a hamstring injury. But an increasingly common theme since the restart is that Southgate uses a back three, which turns into a five-man defense out of possession; this has been the case against Denmark, Wales and now Belgium. Surrendering the initiative in this way increases the influence of the opponent’s wastefulness and downright luck, the former being especially thanked by Yannick Carrasco and the latter contributing to both England goals.
Henderson felt a hand on Thomas Meunier’s shoulder, and although the contact did not justify the fall, the incident resulted in a penalty, awarded by German referee Tobias Stieler. Marcus Rashford celebrated his MBE on the Queen’s Birthday Honors Roll with an emphatic kick.
England improved in the second half, playing with more purpose and invention. They were fortunate, however, that Mason Mount’s deflected shot in the 64th minute passed over Simon Mignolet and into the net.
Walker rallied from his slow start to finish the game strong, helping to keep Lukaku in check as Belgium searched in vain for a draw. Rashford came in on the other end to widen the margin of victory, which would have been even tougher for the visitors.
A hold-and-counter approach ultimately proved effective in England keeping their hopes of qualifying for the Nations League final intact, inflicting Belgium’s first defeat anywhere since November 2018. But does this approach maximize talent to long-term disposition of Southgate?
“I don’t think it matters what the preferred system is,” Southgate told the media after the game. “You saw a high-level game tonight where we were able to use the ball well, create opportunities; you don’t have many opportunities, but at this level of the game, we created them.
“Defensively, you have to be right. You can’t be loose in any way, shape or form. The players took it into account. We had a 20 minute period where we were caught with overloads, one of two. On the side, we had to take a lot of quick decisions, but they got over it. When you think that the front players plus Declan and Trent [Alexander-Arnold] They are so young, it is a brilliant experience for them to play against such an important team. Going and winning should give them an idea of what might be possible for them in the years to come. “
After England secured their place for the last World Cup, Southgate used the final qualifier, against Lithuania on the road, to switch from the 4-2-3-1 form they used throughout to a back three that they later perfected. in the months that followed. He then moved to a 4-3-3 system after Russia to get more attacking talent on his team, excited by the possibility of Jadon Sancho emerging alongside Rashford, Kane and Sterling. The supporting rhetoric was to create a more expansive and dynamic team capable of beating almost any team.
A gluttony for goals followed. England’s 37 goals in qualifying for Euro 2020 was a tally equaled by Italy and only surpassed by Belgium (40). Since then, Calvert-Lewin, Mount, Jack Grealish and James Maddison have trained at the club level, giving Southgate a host of exciting options.
This group of talents can be very heavy and lack a midfield metronome in the De Bruyne mold, but the best team that can produce on paper does not cry out for the conservative mindset that has become a more constant theme. Having once deviated from 4-3-3, into a 4-2-3-1 formation in which England lost to the Czech Republic, increasing caution has crept into Southgate’s teams. Last month he even admitted that he chose a three-man defense against Denmark out of concern that problems off the field could destabilize his players, so an additional defender provided additional security. Those days were supposed to be behind us.
In the end, the results are the only thing that matters. An expansive style is not the only path to success, and yet Southgate did well to clarify this as an important milestone in the development of England. However, in the months to come there is hope that they will turn into something more, because to win Euro 2020, they will surely have to.
