How long before Gareth Southgate puts in a call to the new England cricket head coach Brendon McCullum to talk about the power of positive thinking? It is not fresh legs that England need but a new way of seeing.
As the goals went in, all four of them, Southgate had that faraway look of England managers of old, schooled by a continental foe replete in technically accomplished players who had a firm grasp of what was being asked of them. What is the big idea guiding this England team? Where is the vision to which all are wedded?
While McCullum has transformed our failing cricketers by injecting a sense of purpose and fun, Southgate seems to have hit a wall. The reset that he oversaw based on inclusion and identity has evidently lost its force. Stunned by an early goal, England were utterly unable to answer it and sit bottom of the Nations League Group with Southgate reflecting on the worst sequence of results during his reign.
The audience at Trent Bridge were treated to a fearless England performance full of calculated risk and red-blooded excitement. Sixty miles to the west England’s footballers continued to make sport look onerous and dull. Perhaps falling behind would release the shackles? A failure to deal with the towering Adam Szalai exposed Harry Kane on the penalty spot. He missed his kick. Roland Sallai buried the chance that fell his way.
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From Nunez to Haaland - The full list of Premier League done deals this summer14 June, 2022Southgate hoped by pairing Jude Bellingham and Conor Gallagher in advanced midfield roles that England would scamper and harry Hungary into errors. By going all-in on high energy, Southgate sacrificed the playmaker role. Thus England lacked a No.10 to discomfit Hungary between the lines, to change the tempo and set a rhythm. The result was another disjointed, shapeless display.
Kane looked behind him and saw Gallagher, Bellingham, Bowen, all of whom might have something to offer individually but in this jumbled context suffered from a lack of leadership and direction. England weren’t helped by having a right-footed left-back in Reece James, who in advanced positions was compromised by the need to turn inside. The overlaps for which he is celebrated on the right were entirely absent here. As a result attacks slowed and the recycling began.
Jarrod Bowen was often England’s outball. Yet he was mostly isolated in possession and forced into individual solutions that asked too much of him. Bowen is at his best running onto the through pass rather than trying to force his way solo through a well-ordered rearguard. The mood on the concourses at half-time contrasted sharply with the Trent Bridge experience, where fans were exposed to a thunderous contest and all of it for free.
Recognising the need for change, Southgate withdrew Bowen at half-time for Raheem Sterling and reshaped the backline, with James switched to the right side of defence. Ten minutes later Gallagher made way for Mason Mount. The moves gave England a much more recognisable shape, inviting Sterling and Mount to fill in around Kane.
Southgate has walked a delicate line this summer balancing the need to rest his tired favourites with the desire to test the quality of fringe players. The imposition of a Nations League tournament that few want to play has proved wholly unsatisfactory and disruptive. Southgate has two matches against Germany and Italy in September to galvanise the group and rediscover a sense of themselves.
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The second half was – believe it or not – an improvement on the first. Kane smacked a header against the bar but England struggled to hit the final pass. Conversely Hungary made the most of the possession they had, scoring a second through the excellent Sallai, a thunderous third from the right boot of Zsolt Nagy and a crippling fourth by Daniel Gazdag. All were quick hits on the break. Ramsdale had no chance for any of them.
This result completed a sequence of four winless England matches for the first time since the dark days of Roy Hodgson’s reign. The time to panic is not upon us just yet. Southgate has shown himself adept in the tournament environment, steering England to a semi-final and final in successive events. Southgate claims to know his best team. The requirement in September is to go with it and fire the imagination of the public ahead of the World Cup opener against Iran in November.
Getting schooled by Hungary is not knew. Hopefully this has none of the epochal significance of the 1953 thrashing at the feet of the Magical Magyars. Let it be a warning that begets a response.
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