CZECHS SPY ENGLAND WEAKNESS THREE KEY MEN
Leaky defence risks derailing Southgate’s bid for Euro glory
CHANGING times in English football were summed up rather well in Prague last night by Czech coach Jaroslav Silhavy.
Talking about the recent performances of Gareth Southgate’s team, he suggested England could have scored nine against Kosovo last time out. Nobody in the room was even tempted to laugh.
The change in England’s attacking play under coach Southgate has been fundamental and feels permanent. They will face the Czechs tonight having scored 19 goals in four qualifying games for next summer’s European Championship.
The only problem is that all coins have two sides and the wrong side of this one concerns England’s defending. Silhavy had something to say about that, too.
‘We were quite surprised when we learned the Kosovo match ended 5-3,’ he said. ‘England maybe could have scored nine goals, so they have great attacking strength. But what we saw in that game was England are not perfect and we hope to take advantage.’
This hardly represents a rallying cry for a national team who lost 5-0 at Wembley in March, but Silhavy’s observations were appropriate all the same.
Southgate’s England came of age as an attacking force during the 2018 World Cup and they have continued in that vein. That style has taken them to the brink of qualification tonight.
At times, England’s football can be thrilling and it has been a while since we have said that.
Nevertheless, the national team’s defensive issues are real and potentially damaging with so few competitive games remaining between now and Euro 2020.
England’s work at the back against Kosovo in Southampton was poor and not a one-off.
‘Every area of our game has to be right,’ said Southgate last night. ‘You have to keep clean sheets in major tournaments.’
This is the point. England’s football has been more than good enough to qualify easily. But Southgate does not wish to simply play in next summer’s tournament — he wishes to win it.
Much of the competition will take place in England, so the opportunity is significant.
‘English football looks to be in a healthy state,’ added Southgate. ‘But it’s only when we deliver at a tournament that we can really say that.’
We will possibly know a little more about England’s durability after tonight’s game and what looks set to be tense night in Sofia against Bulgaria on Monday.
Two away games will place England under greater pressure in terms of possession and territory than anything they have experienced since losing 3-1 to Holland in the Nations League in Portugal last summer. Then, next month, comes a visit to Prishtina and a return fixture against free-wheeling Kosovo.
Southgate admits that he was ‘miserable for a month’ after that 5-3 game and, as a former central defender, that is understandable. What would make him smile is a central defender to play alongside Harry Maguire.
With Manchester City’s John Stones injured and not historically reliable for England anyway, Southgate’s two options are Liverpool’s Joe Gomez and Michael Keane of Everton.
Pretty soon, one of them is going to have to step forward.
England are well stocked at full back and that remains a strength. Not so in the middle, where Gomez has not recovered form from last season’s knee injury and Keane will have travelled here burdened by memories of a personal horror show against Kosovo.
Gomez remains the better option but only if he rediscovers form. He was poor against Salzburg for Liverpool in the Champions League and dropped as his team beat Leicester.
Southgate will have felt that disappointment almost as keenly as the player and it may be the reason he is expected to give Keane another run alongside Maguire tonight.
‘ It’s clear that some of our defenders who’ve picked up more caps over the last couple of years either aren’t with us or haven’t been playing regularly for their clubs,’ added Southgate.
‘So it’s a different situation to solve, but we’ve got to just work with the players on the training ground to make sure that’s an area of focus for us.
‘We’re going to score goals and play good football but everything has to be right.’
Southgate’s calm pragmatism is an asset as England negotiate challenging issues on and off the field during this brief visit to Eastern Europe — and it will be an asset as the nation starts its usual clamour for glory ahead of next summer.
Southgate wants his team to enjoy qualification if it does come tonight, but not too much. The coach sees this as a staging post on the road to something much more significant. Hopefully his players view it the same way.