England advances to the Round of 16 in EURO 2024: How much longer will Southgate keep his strategies hidden?

Perhaps 99% of England’s fans don’t believe their team can repeat the achievement of finishing as runners-up as they did in EURO 2020. Gareth Southgate’s star-studded squad played like headless chickens throughout the group stage but still managed to secure a spot in the Round of 16. The problem is, if they continue to play like this, how many more days will the Three Lions remain in Germany?

The England team has advanced to the Round of 16 in EURO 2024, finishing first in Group C. Normally, their fans should be celebrating. However, the opposite has happened as England supporters are furious, especially after watching their team continue to play as if they weren’t playing at all. When Southgate approached the stands at Cologne Stadium to thank the fans, he was met with a “rain” of empty plastic cups thrown from the stands.

One frustrated fan said, “We paid a lot of money to come here and support the team, and we deserve to see a more entertaining performance than this.” Another annoyed fan commented, “Southgate cannot coach top stars, even though he has made the team a contender for the championship. The England team needs a more talented coach.”

Let’s hear what Southgate had to say after the match. Once again, Southgate claimed that England played well: “I think we have improved a lot in ball possession. Currently, we are having difficulties in attacking, but we have kept a clean sheet. That has helped England top the group. I understand some of the reactions, but we are playing in a different tournament.”

If we say that England conceded only one goal after the group stage, that’s both good and bad news. The good news, as Southgate mentioned, is that it helped them top their group. The bad news is that the two teams England managed to keep clean sheets against were Serbia and Slovenia. When they faced a stronger opponent like Denmark, they immediately conceded. If Denmark had been luckier, they should have scored more than one goal. Ahead lies the Round of 16, where any mistake could be costly. What if England faces Italy? Italy no longer plays the negative defensive football of the past, and England’s defense will struggle against their effective wing play and long-range strikes. However, experts believe England is more likely to face the Netherlands. This is also a challenging opponent since many Dutch players play in England and know Southgate’s stars very well.

Looking back at England’s entire group stage performance in EURO 2024, Southgate has a lot to address, including a proper assessment of the issues his team is facing. Simply put, Southgate should select the right personnel and avoid using Trent in the central position because that was a mistake from the start. We need to understand that playing as a full-back with the freedom to move into the center is different from starting in the center. Southgate “copied” Klopp’s use of Trent but only got the form, not the substance.

In the recent draw against Slovenia, Kobbie Mainoo and Cole Palmer, who came off the bench, made a significant impact and deserve to start in the next match. However, Jude Bellingham’s dip in form after the opening match against Serbia is a concern. Finding the best way for the Real Madrid superstar to integrate is becoming a problem that Southgate likely hasn’t yet found a solution to.

Compared to the previous two matches, Southgate changed his midfield setup by placing Conor Gallagher and Bellingham ahead of Declan Rice. The strategy leaned towards a 4-1-2-3 formation, pushing the team higher up the field with Gallagher replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold in a defensive midfield role. However, Gallagher deserved to be substituted in the first half as he seemed overwhelmed by a major tournament like the EUROs, or more precisely, he seemed lost in England’s formation because he rarely plays this way at Chelsea.

At Chelsea, he either pairs with Enzo Fernandez or Moise Caicedo, or sometimes he plays as an attacking midfielder. This means England will likely enter the knockout stage with a different combination in such a crucial area as central midfield. The reality shows that the experiments haven’t been effective, and it would be better for Southgate to do something simpler and safer.

Only when Mainoo came on and played in the number 8 position did the pressing game become more effective. That’s something Southgate should have done from the Serbia match, not now. After much anticipation from experts and fans, Cole Palmer, the Premier League’s top assist provider last season, was finally brought on with high expectations and hopes. In his 20 minutes on the field, Palmer made a mark with a clever dribble and a shot that forced the Slovenian goalkeeper into a difficult save.

In summary, Cole Palmer and Mainoo are precisely the “answers” to Southgate’s problems. By now, he should have finalized his core lineup instead of continually experimenting. In a post-match interview, Southgate praised Palmer and agreed that the young Chelsea star can make a difference: “He is very good at finding space, has excellent technique. Those three players (referring to Palmer, Mainoo, and Gordon) are still very young, so we are trying to help them gradually adapt to the tough environment. But they made a really good impact when they came on in the second half, especially in ball progression. There’s a lot that England can build on from what we showed today.”

Given this praise, will Mainoo, Cole Palmer, and Gordon continue to sit on the bench in the next match, Southgate?

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