ALL AT SEA?
Not this England
STABLE DOOR IS SHUT... BUT HORSE HAS BOLTED
LAST month Gareth Southgate was probed about that World Cup semi-final against Croatia. Was there more he could have done when England were pinned back into an ineffective 5-3-2? Why did his players start launching long balls in the second half? And why hadn’t Southgate intervened to bolster midfield as Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic began to dominate?
On Friday night in Rijeka, Southgate and his team had their answer. Here was a flexible system which might well have seen England through to a World Cup final had it been applied in the second half in Moscow. Three months too late maybe. And in the UEFA Nations League rather than a World Cup semi-final. But, still, it would be churlish not to recognise what Southgate got right in Rijeka.
THE NEW ENGLAND
ESSENTIALLY Eric Dier stepped into a back three when England were in possession, allowing full-backs Kyle Walker and Ben Chilwell to push into attack. But when England lost the ball Dier stepped forward into midfield to create a 4-3-3. England were no longer outnumbered in central midfield. And rarely were their full-backs pinned back as they were in Moscow. Match stats show just how much better England were on Friday. In the World Cup semi England had 44.5% possession; on Friday they had 53.7%. The expected goals metric in Moscow had England on a miserly 0.55 and Croatia on 1.74. In Rijeka England’s xG had risen to 1.19 and Croatia’s had shrunk to 0.4.
FEARLESS FULL BACKS
THE switch to a back four allowed Kyle Walker to play in his natural right-back position. (The Moscow semi-final was his worst performance as a central defender). And unlike the semifinal, where Croatia pushed their wingers on, to trap wingback Kieran Trippier deep in his own half, this system never permitted Ivan Perisic to do that. On Friday Walker had more touches in the Croatia penalty area than any other England player (4). More than 60% of his touches came in Croatia’s half. In the same fixture in Russia, admittedly in a more withdrawn position, this was 11%. In maintaining the initiative, England managed to nullify Croatia’s wide threat. Croatia attempted 40 crosses in Russia, but only managed 13 on Friday.
MUZZLING MODRIC
JUST as Andrea Pirlo took England apart in 2012 and 2014, so did Luka Modric last July. The ball-playing midfielder is a problem England have long struggled to solve. But Friday night sparked hope. Modric’s pass completion dropped from 88.7% to 81.8%. This was in part due to an England midfielder being near to him when he picked up the ball. In Moscow, 72.2% of his passes in the World cup were forward; this was down to 66.7% on Friday.
PASSING PROBLEMS
THE key to England’s downfall in the World Cup was the number of times their central defenders attempted to pass the ball long. For both Maguire and Walker, 22.6% of their attempted passes were long in Russia. This figure was down to 12% for Maguire and 14.9% for Walker on Friday. Maguire’s pass accuracy improved from 83.7% to 90.6%, Walker’s from 80.9% to 87.1%.