So this is what England are, really. A defensive, compact team, primed to attack on the counter. And don’t think that a glorious 12-minute attacking spell that produced three goals against Germany will change that.
Fans need to accept this England team for what it is, at least until after the Qatar World Cup, where the nation will either emerge victorious with Gareth Southgate’s name written into footballing folklore, or return under a cloud of disappointment, and the manager could go.
Southgate seemed to put his finger on the country’s main deficiency on the eve of Monday’s game: the nation lacks a good enough “playmaking pivot”. Like Germany have Joshua Kimmich, or Croatia have Luka Modric, or like an Andrea Pirlo of old.
While technically excellent players have emerged from English academies in recent years — Phil Foden, Mason Mount, Reece James — none can play that role well enough, or are regularly playing it at their club.
So there’s no central midfield spark, no Keymaker. James is a natural wingback, Mount and Foden could play there but don’t for Chelsea and Manchester City. Jack Grealish would be another who could play the role, but again he doesn’t for Manchester City. They can’t be expected to function at their peak in an unfamiliar position on international duty.
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It can, however, make for painful viewing. Only when England went for it, trailing Germany by two goals with 20 minutes remaining, did they look like a truly exciting side.
It had taken 25 minutes for Wembley, watching England’s final game before the squad will fly out to Qatar, to come alive. A wonderful curled pass from left wing-back Luke Shaw, inside his own half, found Raheem Sterling and the forward did the hard part — turned cleverly past the two covering German defenders — but saw his low shot saved well by Manuel Neuer.
Before then, England’s disciplined performance earned Germany two-thirds of the possession, and a lot of it felt as though it was in England’s half.
The brilliant partnership of Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips made up for the lack of a playmaking pivot last summer, but could it have patched over a problem that can’t be solved overnight and is really being felt now?
People forget England scored on average 1.6 goals per game en route to and including the Euro 2020 final. Take out the 4-0 result against Ukraine in the quarter-finals, and that dropped to just over one goal per game. Even in Russia, in 2018, putting aside the 6-1 thrashing against Panama in the group stage, England won by ones or twos.
So if Southgate wants to defend in numbers, he lacks the ideal central midfielder to best service attacks. And Southgate can’t simply go out and buy the type of player he needs.
Jude Bellingham has been given a huge chance with Phillips recovering from shoulder surgery — making him a doubt to start at the World Cup — but even the 19-year-old is more of a powerful, box-to-box player, galloping from one penalty area to the other.
A lot has been made of the absence of Alexander-Arnold, unused in the defeat to Italy last Friday then left out of the squad to face Germany. But it feels like his inclusion wouldn’t solve any issues, and perhaps only add to them.
James is, quite simply, a better all-round full-back. He’s played better for England and is in better form for his club. But it does mean that left out is one of the few players capable of turning a game on its head with one 40-yard pass – a crucial weapon in Southgate’s preferred approach.
With five across the defence and in games when the wing-backs are forced back, England are reduced to snappy counterattacks, and could do with a player capable of those quarterback passes to set a forward free.
In the recent games, against Italy and Germany, Foden was often England’s most creative player from deep, when he dropped back frequently, frustrated by the lack of support. And if Foden is the one playing the defence-splitting passes, it leaves only Kane and Sterling up top, and far easier to nullify.
Only when two-nil down with nothing to lose did Southgate remove England’s brakes and the team put on an attacking masterclass to seal an unlikely comeback before Germany equalised. Just don’t expect that 12 minutes of football to change the approach in Qatar.
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