Gareth Southgate insists England cannot be “football snobs” and expect the players to pass the ball out from the back all the time if they want to beat leading nations.
A noticeable aspect of England’s Euro 2020 opening game victory against Croatia – runners up at the last World Cup and their toughest group opponents – was goalkeeper Jordan Pickford sending longer passes straight to England’s forwards. In recent times, such an approach has been mocked by supporters and rival managers.
But Southgate pointed out that striker Harry Kane is an expert at winning high balls and that shifting the ball faster up the pitch can catch out opposition midfields and prove an advantage against better sides.
“There are moments to go longer,” Southgate said. “We’ve got a centre forward who wins more of his share of the ball. And we shouldn’t be football snobs. It’s great to play out from the back and get to the halfway line in control of the ball, but it’s just as effective to go to the centre forward and be in control of the ball and be able to play from there. The variety is important against top opposition.”
Club managers such as Pep Guardiola, at Manchester City, and Jurgen Klopp, at Liverpool, have popularised passing it out from the back with their relentless persistence in pursuit of perfection.
As other clubs across the Premier League have tried to replicate the style it has often proved costly – and even Guardiola and Klopp’s sides are guilty of errors that can then hand easy goals to opponents.
For a long period, Southgate also tried persistent passing out from the back, the tactic often handing Pickford, who is better with the ball at his feet, the edge over Nick Pope, a better shot stopper, as England’s No 1. But the approach has cost England on a number of occasions, most recently in the World Cup qualifier against Poland when John Stones gave the ball away on the edge of his own penalty area and Poland scored.
Southgate’s stance appears to have now softened and he explained that whereas clubs are able to swallow up mistakes over a long season, in tournament football it can be the difference between staying in the competition or being eliminated.
“We give [the players] pictures and it depends how the opposition press and there were times [against Croatia] where it was on to take on,” Southgate said of how he prepares his players. “We don’t have as long to work on those patterns playing from goal kicks as you do at a club, and also we’re one mistake away from it being more costly, across 38 games that’s different.
“[The players] are able to make those decisions. We give them possible patterns depending on how the opposition are pressing, there was a little spell where we went long and we just talked about that at half-time. We didn’t want to do that every time.”
More from i on Euro 2020
- i’s Euro 2020 predictions – winners, dark horses, golden boot and more
- Daniel Storey’s guide to all 24 teams – from hot favourites to no hopers
- Home nations guides on England, Scotland and Wales
- How to watch every Euro 2020 match on TV and online in the UK
- Why England players are taking a knee at Euro 2020 – in their own words
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3iJhqB0
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