Progress but England still has work to do
Print Edition
England鈥檚 first run to the World Cup semifinals in 28 years represented real progress and provided cheer to its long-suffering supporters, but there remain clear shortcomings for manager Gareth Southgate to address when the emotion fades.
The 1-2 extra-time defeat to Croatia on Wednesday exposed the limitations of Southgate鈥檚 inexperienced side, weaknesses that were evident at other times in the tournament, but were often masked by the euphoria of unexpected success.
For all the talk of a new, modern, passing style of football, England found it difficult to play out from the back and keep possession in midfield, when put under real pressure.
Had it come up against France in Sunday鈥檚 final, a team which managed to nullify world-class creative talents like Belgium鈥檚 Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard in their semi, that limitation would probably have been exposed even more emphatically.
Southgate tried to compensate for the lack of a real creative midfielder by designing a formation that focused on attacking down the flanks and then using withdrawn forwards for the more intricate play near goal.
At times in the tournament it worked very well but against the best opposition it faced, England sorely missed a player capable of dictating the tempo in midfield.
Solving that problem will not be easy 鈥 there was no such player available to Southgate and there is no sign at the moment of an 鈥楨nglish Luka Modric鈥 emerging in the English Premier League. Other tactical ideas will, therefore, need to be explored.
The cold facts are that England narrowly beat Tunisia with a late goal, ripped apart a woeful Panama and lost to Belgium in a strange match featuring both teams鈥 second-string.
In the knockouts, it needed penalties to get past a Colombia team shorn of its top player, James Rodriguez, and then beat Sweden with two headers and with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford making some crucial saves.
Yet England is no longer the team which collapsed in defeat to Iceland two years ago and it is better than the side which could not get out of the group stage in Brazil four years ago.
As Southgate acknowledged, the run to the last four has also created a new standard for his team, which raises the low expectations of this tournament.
鈥淲e鈥檝e come an incredibly long way in a short space of time,鈥 Southgate said after the loss at Moscow鈥檚 Luzhniki Stadium. 鈥淭he whole thing is beyond where we thought we might go...
鈥淣ow we have a new benchmark, a new level of expectation, a new scenario. But many of these players have come of age on an international stage. I couldn鈥檛 be prouder with what they鈥檝e done,鈥 he added.
There is genuine cause for optimism for England fans.
Last year, England鈥檚 junior teams won the Under-20 World Cup, the U-17 World Cup and the U-19 European Championship.
The Football Association鈥檚 work in creating a 鈥楧NA鈥 to England鈥檚 teams is delivering real results and offers genuine promise. And the FA need not worry about the manager with Southgate having done so much to modernize the England set-up and get the most out of his inexperienced squad.
Yet, while he has become a hugely popular figure in England, Southgate is himself lacking experience as a manager in top-level competition.
Southgate took England to the brink of glory but if it wants to be pushing for a title at Euro 2020 or at the World Cup in Qatar two years later, another leap forward in quality will be required.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
