The dream of an expansive England, a team of greedy ballers pinning opponents back that Gareth Southgate promised in his early period in charge is in there somewhere if only the manager will let it loose. Perhaps the rousing finale against Germany will persuade him.
Southgate is an honest agent but, perhaps, not wholly with himself. Trust is at the centre of this England he has built, yet, paradoxically, it is also the quality that fails him on the big occasion.
England have the players to hurt teams but have evolved into a reactive unit, set up pragmatically to stop, compromising the positive gains of his earlier reign when he was operating without consequence. Thus by a roundabout method, he risks bringing England back to the point where he found them, a predictable ensemble lacking a thrill button until all seems lost.
Three at the back can be an exhilarating base as Germany demonstrated with five genuine midfielders in front. Under Southgate, the system too often defaults to a back six with five defenders and a defensive midfielder forming a shield. Control in the middle of the park is needlessly sacrificed in favour of speculative counters.
On Monday, Luke Shaw filled the left wing back role, a player picked for his defensive qualities despite his ability in the final third. All you can say is it is better than selecting players out of position. Bukayo Saka is unplayable in an advanced right sided role for Arsenal, but found himself emasculated in Milan by his deployment in the Shaw role.
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It was the same at the San Siro. The introduction of Jack Grealish utterly shifted the tempo, enabled by the change in context. Grealish, ironically unavailable against Germany, was all over the pitch as the players veered off script and sought their own solutions in pursuit of an equaliser. Grealish was everywhere, Jude Bellingham came alive, and Foden looked like the player so revered by Pep Guardiola.
It was a 15-minute snapshot of what might be were Southgate to rid himself of his aversion to risk from the start. Reece James was suddenly an aggressor, steaming forward on the right. Under pressure, Italy were forced out of shape and England found space and, hey presto, looked dangerous for the first time in the match.
Southgate’s response to the recent sequence was worrying since it failed to acknowledge the underlying causes of England’s fall. Results, he acknowledged, were the currency in which he deals, and he would stand or fall by them. Of course, he is an honourable fellow. While any team is vulnerable to a random outcome, results over time reflect the quality of football played.
Against Germany, he got it right by some unexpected quirk, which gave the lie to the idea that England are somehow ill-equipped at this level. This is a team that includes a player regarded by Guardiola as the most talented 17-year-old he had ever seen. Foden, one of the more positive performers against Italy, is just one example of a player too often diminished by Southgate’s obsession with shape and structure at the expense of caprice and invention.
Is Reece James not a talent? Bellingham, Harry Kane, John Stones, Saka, not to mention the eternally divisive Trent Alexander-Arnold and James Maddison? Against the odds they proved what can be achieved when they go for it. The hope must be that Southgate is not deterred by the goal Germany stole at the death. England have it their gift to spread fear in Qatar but only if Southgate removes their chains.
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