England manager Gareth Southgate has led a charmed life for far too long – eight years and three international tournaments before this one, to be precise. The moment of reckoning is now most definitely upon him. Everything, from the reputation of this supposedly stellar group of players to Southgate’s credibility as a coach, is on the line.
It all comes down to how England perform in their final group phase game against Slovenia at the Cologne stadium tonight. It is an encounter that presents opportunity and danger in equal measure. The opportunity is there because the Slovenians are eminently beatable, ideal opponents for an England team low on confidence and looking to put things right quickly. The danger is that a good result against Slovenia may well prove to be another false dawn, encouraging Southgate to believe that any changes he does make are sufficient and that England are back on track. Does anyone really believe that a good showing tonight would be definitive proof that England’s problems have gone away? It’s only Slovenia, the doubters will cry.
It is anyone’s guess what Southgate will come up with as a solution for tonight’s match
That is why a lot is riding on Southgate getting the big calls right, not just for this game, but in terms of the bigger picture. What is being asked of him at Euro 2024 – over the course of a few days and in the middle of a tournament – is to come up with innovative solutions in every area of the pitch. That would be a tall order for even the most brilliant manager, let alone Southgate. Has he got the tactical brain and footballing imagination to remake this team? Well, we are about to find out.
The noises coming out of the England camp after the debacle against Denmark are not encouraging, suggesting a team and manager on the defensive. The captain Harry Kane took a pop at former England stars and pundits, Gary Lineker included, who were up in arms after their performance. Kane said they should be more ‘responsible’ with their comments, pointedly reminding everyone that the critics did not win a major international tournament in their own careers.
Declan Rice suggested England’s problems might stem from the players putting ‘too much pressure on ourselves’. The bizarrest explanation, if it can be called that, came from Southgate himself, who suggested that England’s problem was that they were missing Kalvin Phillips in midfield, someone who hasn’t played regular club football in the last two years. When challenged on the lack of energy throughout the team, Southgate offered up the idea that the players weren’t fit enough to play a pressing game. It is hard to know what he hopes to achieve by saying things like this in public: it only reinforces the idea that he really is out of his depth.
It is anyone’s guess what Southgate will come up with as a solution for tonight’s match. Harry Kane needs support upfront. This could come in the form of a start for Anthony Gordon on the wing. Yet Gordon hasn’t played a single minute of the tournament so far, and his introduction would be a big call by a manager not exactly known for being brave. What happens to Phil Foden? The dumb midfield experiment of playing Trent Alexander-Arnold alongside Declan Rice is surely at an end. Will the inexperienced Adam Wharton be slotted into midfield? How would that affect the balance of the team?
Questions, endless questions. Southgate’s problem is that any major changes in tactics and formation require weeks of preparation and are hard to pull off in a matter of days. It is a lot to put right in a short space of time.
The bottom line is that England are in desperate need of a convincing performance against Slovenia. They need to show some semblance of a game plan that offers a measure of control throughout the 90 minutes. Southgate must also show something that has eluded him so far: the impression that he knows what to do when things start to go awry during a match.
In short, what is called for is precisely everything that has been missing in England’s opening two games in the tournament. The optimists – and somewhat surprisingly there are a fair few – suggest that it isn’t time for panic stations just yet. After all, England will finish top of the group if they win tonight, and even the best teams can get off to a slow start. It is simply a case of rectifying the problems in good time and building confidence.
It sounds convincing enough, until you remind yourself that this is England under Southgate we are talking about. All the old doubts about the manager have resurfaced (if they ever went away). He has had eight years to implement an identity and style of play in this team but it’s hard to see what that is. It looks like headless chickens, on the pitch and in the dug-out. What might previously have been seen as Southgate’s strengths – the calm demeanour and his ‘arm round the shoulder’ approach to players – can now only go so far. No one, least of all the fans, is quite convinced that there is anything of substance behind his endless platitudes. The moment of truth beckons.
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