Ok, it wasn’t perfect, but that was more like it.
I think people have missed what’s been happening with this England team. Not me, obviously, because I’m brilliant and notice everything, but the wider football-watching public seem to be reading England’s earlier struggles wrong. This is not a continuation of a theme from Gareth Southgate. This is different to what we were watching before.
Southgate got the job pretty hastily in late 2016 thanks to Sam Allardyce’s pint of wine (don’t you dare tell me it was lager). The first task was simply to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, and he played a pretty conventional 4-2-3-1 in those matches but, alongside that, he was trying to put in place the structure he wanted for that tournament. If a single word sums up Southgate, it’s “structure”. He put in place a 3-5-2 shape that was pretty disciplined at all times, liked to press in a mid-block, and relied heavily on well-worked set pieces. He likes to pre-plan things, does Gareth.
It started with Jordan Pickford in goal behind a back three of Kyle Walker, John Stones and Harry Maguire. That worked really well, with the players fitting together like a glove. In front of them was a different story. Kieran Trippier was good at right wing back, particularly offering a set piece threat, but Ashley Young was coming to the end of his career. The midfield three of Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard offered a lot of running and threat arriving into the box, but couldn’t pick a pass. Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling upfront were both fine players, but Kane didn’t look fit, and playing as a striker didn’t suit Sterling.
Flash forward three years to Euro 2020 (which was actually in 2021) and some things had changed. The shape switched between a 4-2-3-1 and a 3-4-3, though that could be a more minor shift than implied. Luke Shaw had become the final piece of that defence, though Declan Rice sitting in front of them was more important, such was his impact. England were very, very solid at the back, conceding just twice in seven games. The other end was a little stiff and rigid. Sterling was thriving as a winger coming inside to score, but there wasn’t much spark in terms of creative passing. It was all very ordered in a bad way.
The 2022 World Cup is as close as we’ve come to everything clicking. There’s a weird amnesia that England didn’t impress here because they went out in the quarter-finals, when it’s clearly the best I’ve seen them play at a major tournament in my lifetime. The back six was the same, but with Jude Bellingham as the most advanced midfielder in a 4-3-3. England finally had a player who could genuinely progress the ball in those spaces and tie the whole thing together. Kane finally looked halfway fit at a major tournament, while Bukayo Saka had matured into a serious threat on the right flank. There were two holes left. The first was in central midfield. Henderson ended up displacing Mason Mount, but it was always a temporary fix. The other was the left wing. Sterling started the tournament there, but didn’t look the same player of years gone by. Phil Foden came in as a pretty direct left winger in the knockout stages and the side was much better for it. This team had the defensive solidity Southgate brings and attacking spark from quality individuals. They just went out in a pretty even game against a very good France side. It happens.
I’m struggling to understand what came next. The side just sort of regressed. I think Southgate had two disparate ideas for how to evolve this team, both based on club form. Part one was to use Foden as less of a direct winger and more of a playmaker. I’m not convinced this was necessary, but it seems to be something both Southgate and the player want to do. He now seeks to come inside from the left as an extra creative midfielder. Part two was to do the opposite with Bellingham, and use him as more of a goalscoring number ten who makes runs into the box. Again, I’m not sure this is necessary, but it’s closer to what he does for Real Madrid.
It just hasn’t worked at all. After a long, hard season, Bellingham doesn’t have the fitness levels to consistently make runs into the box, so he gets gummed up in the same part of the pitch as Foden. England have been playing Kieran Trippier at left back, who is no one’s idea of an exciting option on the overlap. And then just basic structural coordination isn’t there. It’s all very weird. But last night, without seeming perfect, this felt like Southgate’s England again.