Euro 2024, Day Three
England squeak by, Netherlands win late, Slovenia and Denmark settle
International football: where Wout Weghorst is better than Phil Foden.
This was interesting. It definitely wasn’t as good as the previous day, but there’s more to talk about. Yes, me being me, I went long on England. Sorry to everyone from Poland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Denmark and Serbia for going short on those teams. But the whole thing is free! Thanks to this newsletter’s sponsor, Immaculate Footy England. We’ll get to them. First, let’s tackle the earlier games.
Poland 1-2 Netherlands
Give the ball to Wout and he will score.
The Dutch were, I thought, quite effective in this one. They had a lot of possession and turned it into chances at will. Poland got ahead early on through a pretty straightforward corner, but from there, Ronald Koeman’s side played some good stuff. They didn’t do the thing I expected, where Virgil van Dijk would play a million sideways passes to Nathan Aké because there were no better options. As it was, they did a pretty good job moving the ball into midfield. It was just among the attackers where things got a bit disjointed. Check out the passmap from Between the Posts (good website! You should subscribe!) below for what I mean. The Dutch had lots of strong links everywhere, until you get to the forwards.
They got the equaliser through a huge deflection and did just chip away at it for a while. But then the main man came on. The big man. The man mountain. And they got their winner.
Poland did have their chances, which just makes everyone ask how things would play out if Robert Lewandowski had been fit. They probably did need to get something here in a tough group. Austria on Friday feels like a must win. The Netherlands can relax a bit knowing they should still be fine even if they lose to France.
Slovenia 1-1 Denmark
I love a good throw-in goal. Love it.
This was a two-pass sequence, using Jonas Wind to flick the ball onto Christian Eriksen running into space. Danish football was an early advocate of set piece routines, making aggressive use of it as a source of goals in the 2010s. This was the most Danish type of goal you’ll see in modern football, and I really enjoy it, in truth.
Denmark had the quality to win this game. Slovenia got an equaliser through an absolutely huge deflection that nonetheless shouldn’t have mattered. It feels like a soft game to drop points in now. England beating Serbia should help both these sides, but they’re making it a lot harder than they should do.
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Serbia 0-1 England
International football may as well be a different sport to club football.
“Tactically, club and international football are almost two separate versions of the game”, Michael Cox wrote recently. “You can be charitable and say they’re simply ‘different’, or you can be realistic and say that international football is some way behind.” I don’t want to say international football is “worse” because I really do enjoy it, but it’s certainly dumber. It’s simpler. The tactical nuances are lost.
Imagine you’re trying to describe various players to someone who never watches football. Some would be easy: they’re fast, they’re good in the air, a great dribbler, a great long-range passer, etc etc. But some would be harder. It would be difficult to describe the more subtle but effective things certain players do unless you’re well versed in the sport.
So let’s talk about Phil Foden.
At 24 years old, Foden has made 270 club appearances and all of them have been under Pep Guardiola. If I asked you to name a “tactically complex” manager, I’m betting a lot of you would say Guardiola. Foden has played a lot of different roles for City over the years. He’s been stationed out on the left, he’s been a narrow inverted winger on the right, a playmaker who starts on the right but comes into midfield, a starting creative midfielder, you name it. He does a lot of stuff. But one thing is clear: he always fits a specific role in a very complex system. Guardiola knows exactly when and where he wants players to move, and Foden brilliantly slots into that.
International football does not offer the coaching time for those complexities (and yes, I think Guardiola is a much better manager than Gareth Southgate). Foden started on the left today, but he was encouraged to come inside and involve himself in play. I’m not sure this really works for him. The pundits on the BBC Sport panel were asking why he doesn’t deliver for England the way he does for Man City. “We need to find a way to get the best out of him”, according to Micah Richards. “At [City], we know it’s choreographed with Pep and the system and movement, but […] we need to find a way to get the best out of him”. Cesc Fàbregas stuck the knife in a little, saying that Foden needs to impose himself on the game the way Jude Bellingham does for England. Richards also seems to think Foden needs to start in a central role.
I think both Richards and Fàbregas miss the point a little bit, though Richards is closer to being right. Foden is used to doing complicated things in highly choreographed environments. My friend João Zamith said that he “can't figure out even the simple things without an instruction manual”. I think that’s harsh, but it gets at the problem here. Foden needs to simplify his game here and concentrate on a few core skills. It would help him and help England.
Southgate picked exactly the lineup everyone expected, to the point that it would’ve been shirt numbers 1-11 if not for Kieran Trippier replacing an unfit Luke Shaw. That was a big problem. If Foden’s going to come inside, England desperately need an overlapping left back to fill that space. Shaw might be fit enough to play soon, but is he fit enough to gallop down that flank? For that reason, I think Foden needs to stay wide and concentrate on his skills there. He’s a good dribbler and causes problems going past people putting in low crosses in the box for tap ins. He can stretch the play and fill the humongous gap Engalnd had on the left. We’ve seen this. What he can’t do is everything. He just ends up doing nothing.
Yesterday, I talked about how much better Spain looked with players wanting to stretch the play. England felt like Spain in previous tournaments. Too many players were narrow and wanted to receive the ball to feet. The goal came from the exact opposite of that: Saka getting down the byline to put in a cross for Bellingham making a run into the six-yard box. England needed more of that width and movement, and fewer players wanting to make nice intricate passes. It needed to be more English, honestly. After that early goal, you could’ve switched off without missing anything.
England did cede control of the game in the second half. Serbia made positive changes and Southgate responded by what felt like pre-planned subs. I don’t know why Saka came off while Foden played 90 minutes, but that’s what happens. In all fairness, England did defend well in this period. I say this a lot, but Southgate’s England aren’t just defensive; they’re good at defending. If there’s a positive to take, it’s that. It’s something that might matter more in the knockout stages than scintillating football.
England really are virtually sorted to go through. Serbia are actually still solidly liked by the bookies to be ok. This was a good three points for England. Let’s just never speak of it again.
Questions for tomorrow
Romania vs Ukraine: Ukraine might be a legit side. They’ve got some talent in important areas, and the betting nerds tell me they’re probably undervalued because they didn’t get to actually play their home games at home. Should we believe in this team?
Belgium vs Slovakia: In my head, Kevin De Bruyne looking up and seeing Jérémy Doku, Leandro Trossard and Romelu Lukaku as his passing options should be exciting. Does it actually work out that way in practice?
Austria vs France: The rumours are that Didier Deschamps is going to lean into the sufferball midfield and start N’Golo Kanté. Can he go for anything more exciting?
See you next time! Thank you to Immaculate Footy England for sponsoring this one.
Hey Grace, I agree with your analysis of Foden almost entirely, but oddly my solution would be a little different instead of a marauding left-back, I would sacrifice Trippier entirely (and Trent). Move Gomez into LB, with Gordon or Eze as a true winger, and let Foden and Bellingham operate as 8s. It’s closer to what he’s used to, and suddenly every defence will be at sea. Rice as a sole holding midfielder isn’t his dream, but he’s very good at it, and a “flat” back 4 with Rice in front will be every bit as solid as a 3-2-5 whilst sacrificing very little.
I also feel that in his current form, Kane isn’t well served as the sole 9 in a 4-2-3-1. But maybe that’s just my lizard brain talking.
Appreciating these dailies, Grace, thank you!