Southgate draws from tactics of foreign coaches in England
Gareth’s strategy faces serious test from Tunisia
Repino – The English Premier League has long been a scapegoat for England’s below-par performances at major tournaments but manager Gareth Southgate says that he has benefited a lot from close study of the tactics used by its foreign coaches.
England start their World Cup campaign against Tunisia today with a formation Southgate believes will play to their strengths of pace and attacking flair.
“We’ve got some of the best coaches in the world working in our league so there are some fascinating ideas,” Southgate said. “The more you watch a team, the more you start to see familiar patterns of play and how they build up.
“The season has been a great contrast of styles and philosophies.”
Much has been made of the impact of Manchester City’s Spanish coach Pep Guardiola on players like Kyle Walker, John Stones and Raheem Sterling, but Southgate’s system owes more to the approach of Italian Antonio Conte at Chelsea.
The London club won the Premier League in 2017 playing with three central defenders and two advanced wingbacks – a central striker and a floating winger/support forward in Eden Hazard.
That is essentially the formula Southgate is expected to use in the World Cup with Kieran Trippier and Ashley Young likely to occupy the wing-back positions which Conte used to such good effect with Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso.
Sterling is likely to be given the “Hazard role” in support of striker Harry Kane with Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli providing attacking support from midfield.