Intelligent possession

The FA’S aim, set out in 2014 blueprint

“England teams aim to dominate possession intelligently, selecting the right moments to progress play and penetrate the opposition.”

The reality

To control possession in the opposition half, teams need width provided by full-backs to allow central players space in advanced positions. But Gareth Southgate’s 4-2-3-1 is rigid and cautious – defenders defend, attackers attack (see graphic, right). English players are far more suited to playing on the counter-attack than with a patient passing game and weaker opponents know that if they sit deep and defend in numbers, England cannot run at them and do not have the kind of player to thread a killer pass behind.

Southgate has built the core of his team around Spurs players, attempting to play in a similar way. A key difference is that Spurs have Christian Eriksen and England do not. Southgate’s full-backs also do not overlap and tend only to move level with the two central midfielders, leaving the forward players outnumbered.

All a weaker team has to do to prevent England from scoring is keep the pitch compact and let them run out of ideas. Slovakia recently did this, restricting England’s four forwards to central areas. Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Marcus Rashford and Alex Oxlade-chamberlain got in each others’ way, while Slovakia focused their counter-attacks down the wings.