In our final video covering Euro 2024, Adam Clery looks back over the tactical evolution of Gareth Southgate’s side over the last 8 years. How he so quickly built the national team’s first real identity in years, why they always went deep into tournaments before coming unstuck at the final hurdles, and why it’s for the best that he’s stepped aside now.
From the 2018 World Cup in Russia, to this year’s final vs Spain, via the heartbreak against Italy… this is the story of England’s greatest ever period of international football, and the man responsible for it.
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23 Comments
Hello everyone, Adam here. As you can see we're back home in our old studio now, but all the moving and trying to up the spec of production slightly means this video's nearly a week later than we ideally wanted it to be. YouTube will no doubt batter our reach for that, so if you do enjoy it and you want to give it some love, shares to social media could make a massive difference to us. Anyway, it's transfer season now though, so we're full steam ahead on Yoro, Calafiori, Dewsbury-Hall, de Ligt, etc, and will be doing a tactical preview for as many clubs as we can between now and August 17th! Much love x
I got so frustrated watching England in the finals and some of the games leading up to it because the players simply did not move to create a passing lane for the ball carrier! If an upfield player was not already open because they were marked, they would not run/check/move to a new position to try to create a new passing lane, get open, or draw a defender out of position. They just stayed where they were, marked, and forced the ball handler to look elsewhere. I'm not suggesting they go full tiki-taka…I just mean basic movement to create a few passes that could relieve pressure or move the defense around a bit!
omg not Kyle Walker
Can you explain why the central midfield triangle has to be one forward and two back? I kept feeling that they could play Bellingham and Foden as forward attacking points of a midfield triangle and Rice (or Mainoo) behind them as the more defensive of the three. Let both Bellingham and Foden move creatively/freely, and work off each other. You could then have your four defenders, two wide players*, and Kane up top. It just seemed odd that their was never the thought of the two creative players playing creatively together – one always had to make way for the other.
*It felt like they missed a Grealish or Rashford (not that either was in form) to play wide left opposite Saka?
Adam Clearly you my man are class
Yeah, but Kit Harrington wasn't a Stark. He was a Targaryen.
this chap helps me to enjoy and understand football more than i ever did….
Who would your choice for manager be Adam? It wonβt happen but Iβd love to see Ancelotti get to direct these players england now have.
Great videos and analysis keep
Up the great work
I really don't think despite Southgate's record, England were effectively no better than a QF team at tournament level..
Brilliant analysis as always, Adam. But I've got counterpoints on England's system.
I don't agree that we lack the personnel to play out from the back. Stones, Foden, Trent are superb at picking passes. Rice and Bellingham are not masters at it, but they're far from bad. Mainoo also seemed comfortable on the ball. There's enough quality to do it.
The issue is runners. Saka is the only one who can run behind but even he prefers it to feet. Kane and Foden won't run behind and Bellingham is not a LW. There's no pace willing to go behind the opposition defence so their entire team is happy to press right onto us, which condenses the midfield making it hard for Rice, Foden, Mainoo to find space to play.
This is where my tactical criticism of Southgate comes in. He wanted safety first football but didn't select players who could counter attack. If he didn't want to drop Kane or Saka, at least choose a LW in the squad who could run, pin back their defence and give the midfield some breathing room. Even someone like Grealish despite his lack of form, prefers the ball to feet but can at least hold the width and carry the ball during a counter.
Brilliant content as always.
So it isnt just 22 bois chasing a bag of wind around a field for a couple of hours with jumpers for goal posts. Gob smacked.
Spot on!
Now we're Championship, can you analyse Portsmouth games? Or is that the equivalent of flicking someone on the ear repeatedly until they break down and cry and request that you cease and desist but in a much more assertive manner.
21:56 "The accusations of being very defensive are not really true" smh…..
Even before I watched this my recollection of the Croatia and Italy fame was that after we scored the opposition pressed high and we never then really had the ball. You have to give credit to the opposition. In some ways and I felt this in the recent Euros that we were better when we went 1-0, because then we were not being pressurised as much. Be able to play out from the back is a real problem for England when the opposition presses. However, we need to back ourselves or we will never break this shackle. Plenty of passing drills to achieve it I think. The only thing I would say about the France game is that they didnβt press. If they had they probably would have kept us out of the game. If we donβt have the type of player to help us break out of the defence, we need to train a couple up to be that.
Great analysis! I'll admit I'm not that knowledgeable about the intricate details of football tactics despite being a huge football fan, however, at a much less technical (and knowledgeable) level these were pretty much also my views on the Southgate era and why England have always struggled since 66 and will lilkely still struggle against the big teams to some extent in future whoever the manager is.
And in my view the World Cup in 2022 was his best tournament despite it being his worst on paper, which I think you are also implying here.
Maguire carrying the ball forward and unleashing a diagonal to Lingard/Alli/Trippier was Englandβs main route for progressing the ball in 2018.
Itβs such a shame the England dna project has ended up not creating any players in the middle of the park. Or has Ancelotti ruined Englandβs best chance of one by pushing Bellingham into a 9/10 role?
Southgate not naive.
proceeds to show that they've played the same way – pass the ball sideways, lots of defending, hope for individual brilliance up front, eventually lose to fatigue and loss of concentration
I have the 2018 World Cup run to thank for my love of football. It was that WC that made me decide to start watching club football
Fantastic input as always. Looking forward to the transfer looks and previews for the PL.
Surely Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo and Jude Bellingham are all press resistant midfielders that should be able to work their way up the field? The problem is that Southgate was largely playing Bellingham as a #10 and so Rice and Mainoo were trying to do it alone and getting outnumbered, and there weren't wide options in space for them to get it to. If you played a 4-3-3 with Rice as pivot and Mainoo/Bellingham only slightly ahead, then those three should be able to play through. But you need outlets further up who will run with the ball out wide and drag the opposition away from the press.