Southgate has been ripped to shreds regularly. Mostly for not playing Foden. But he’s played Foden this tournament and he and Bellingham haven’t clicked together yet.
There’s a generational change in the team and not much cohesion between the players yet. And there’s no left back. But also, the big game players in the team going forward were somewhat anonymous. Walker, Stones, Guehi and Pickford had good games I thought, particularly Walker.
They were up against a Danish team that is one of the most cohesive. Apparently they have the most unchanged squad since the last Euros. They played really well. They double or triple marked Bellingham, who looked tired and uninspired. They came at England and scored a wonder goal to equalise.
Look at the Spain game. Those players forced a million brilliant saves from Donnaruma. In this game England must be deemed a limited squad by comparison. But then if Saka’s header and one of Foden’s shots go in we’re all saying Foden has finally arrived with this England team and TAA is a luxury worth having because he creates goals out of nowhere. Spain only scored and won because of an own goal. France, an undeniably talented tea, also sneaked in their win.
Previously Southgate had a team of control- Rice and Kalvin Phillips didn’t allow half those shots, possession was maintained and Kane was younger.
The parts not quite working together is the problem and the team not responding to a strong, motivated and tactically smart Denmark.
For example Bellingham played Watkins in with a through ball he couldn’t with Kane. But overall the substitutes lack of impact should be concerning. Bellingham wasn’t making late runs into the box because there weren’t any crosses.
And is the current generation better than Lampard, Scholes, Gerard and Beckham? Better than Rooney, Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand? Better than Crouchy and Hargreaves?
The team has abandoned Southgate’s model of two holding midfielders which saw them control games and progress with relative comfort previously. Mostly because they don’t have a second holding mid or a left footed left back of sufficient quality and fitness.
But in this game Bellingham got shut down and the team couldn’t cope with that. Bellingham himself kept on turning into the second or third defender pressing him and falling over. Didn’t work, he rarely got a whistle. The other play makers couldn’t step up and the team wasn’t cohesive in passing.
The other factor is most of these guys- Saka, Bellingham and Foden particularly, have played a lot of football and perhaps just weren’t as fresh as they might have been.
And Dominic Solanke? Surely a better plan B? And
But it’s a team that doesn’t have time together to find cohesion through playing together for 4 years so they better do it another way, chop, chop.
If you really think that this is the most talented and more talented than other teams at this tournament, who are Southgate’s bankers? Who are the players he can rely on? Maybe Saka, Pickford, Stones, Walker and Rice? Not enough there yet to win a tournament or perhaps even to get out of group…
