Thank you Brazil for popping the English balloon. No better place than Wembley for shaking the hubris out of the mother country’s pores. All England’s failings against high-end opposition late in tournaments were brought into the light by an experimental Selecao under new management.
Gareth Southgate’s innate caution, his preference for two industrious defensive midfielders to compensate for defenders who cannot defend against pace, and an inability to get behind defences at the sharp end played out with the inevitable consequences on Saturday night.
A full-bore England led by Harry Kane and propelled by Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham have no trouble overpowering qualifying fodder and modest group stage opponents, but against teams that can hurt you, Southgate’s side appear no nearer to cracking the code.
Without Luke Shaw and Kyle Walker to provide width in the attacking third, England’s inability to stretch defences, to hit the byline at pace was emphatically laid bare. Phil Foden is a gift, but he is no right winger, no matter his frequent deployment there for Manchester City. Pep Guardiola gets away with it because of City’s drilled dominance of the ball and a myriad of attacking options.
Foden was all but invisible against Brazil in Southgate’s configuration. When he did gain possession, he was forced by inclination born of left foot-bias to come inside, easy meat for ballers who defend like cage fighters. Anthony Gordon, a right-footer on the left, was busy and bright on debut but no threat on the outside or to the byline. Invariably he turned inside, which makes the defender’s job so much easier.
England have got better at bringing the ball out from the back, with both John Stones and Harry Maguire comfortable in possession. But Maguire’s lack of pace and composure under pressure is a liability that Brazil looked to exploit at every turn. Walker’s withdrawal in the first half removed at a stroke the insurance of real defensive pace, which he showed in clearing up Vinicius Junior’s rapid break.
Southgate, admirable in so many ways, not least in his intelligence, sincerity and empathetic understanding of what a modern squad environment looks and feels like, appears unable to shake the caution that has clung for so long to the Three Lions tracksuit.
The distrust of genuine flair in the middle of the park is an affliction that has cursed England for more than half a century, a trend that has seen players of the calibre of Tony Currie, Alan Hudson, Stan Bowles, Duncan McKenzie and even Glenn Hoddle, whose 53 caps should have been twice that number, shamefully underutilised.
James Maddison looks like joining their number. He’s 27, approaching his peak, yet has only five caps. On Saturday he sat on his rear whilst Conor Gallagher galloped around the park looking out of his depth. Running harder is not a cheat code for playing smarter. Nobody is saying Maddison should play in the middle of the park, but he would trouble any team in the No 10 role and Bellingham would do just fine in the engine room.
The preference for Gallagher and Declan Rice is a manifestation of an ancient reflex that is more concerned with keeping out the opposition than taking them on. Both Rice and Gallagher rely on their cardiovascular capacity. Against good teams Gallagher carries little-to-no threat going forward and on the evidence of Saturday does not provide Southgate with the game intelligence to do a job defensively.
Offensively Brazil cut through England’s midfield with ease. Their movement is quick and incisive and the ball is shifted at pace. England were predictable and slow.
Ask yourself would Gallagher get in the Brazil team? Erm, no. Bellingham would. Maddison would. Kobbie Mainoo would, given Brazil’s inexhaustible appetite for raising pulse rates and youth, demonstrated by the thrilling intervention of 17-year-old, Madrid-bound Endrick.
In his brief cameo Mainoo joined Bellingham in offering a moment of genuine, line-breaking genius. The ability to take the ball in any circumstance and the courage to beat his man is the minimum requirement of any Brazilian.
Bellingham has it. Mainoo has it. The returns since 1966 tell us that this is the only way forward.
Southgate is unlikely to start Mainoo, but he should if he insists on a double pivot at the base of midfield. If not, he should trust Rice to mop up in front of defence that ideally does not include Maguire, let Bellingham run the operation from the middle of the park and pick a genuine No 10 like Maddison or even Foden to light up the attack.
Assuming a fit squad in Germany this is how an enterprising England might look: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Colwill, Shaw, Rice, Bellingham, Maddison, Bowen, Kane, Saka.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/W39lV0i
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