Southgate sticks to winning recipe
ENGLAND manager Gareth Southgate says he is not about to change his team’s approach for today’s World Cup semifinal against Croatia, saying he wants the “same again” from his side.
Although Croatia is the most difficult opponent England will have faced in the tournament, Southgate’s words suggest he will continue with his attacking formation and personnel.
Asked what he would be demanding from his players, the coach told ITV: “To be able to keep doing what we have been doing, play with real defensive discipline, good organization, tactical awareness and then with the ball play with the freedom and expression that we have and the same patterns and movements that we have shown.”
While Croatia possesses arguably the best central midfield pairing in the tournament in the shape of Real Madrid’s Luka Modric and Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic, Southgate’s language does not indicate he is about to bring in Eric Dier as an additional defensive midfielder alongside Jordan Henderson.
But he is certainly well aware of the threat that Croatia poses in the center of the field. “They of course have a very strong midfield so, (it is about) denying them space and making sure awareness of distances and coverage of the pitch is correct and (knowing) the right moments to press. The higher the level of opponent, if you press in a disorganized fashion, then you will get picked through and we have got to be conscious of that.”
While England enjoyed a relatively stress-free 2-0 win over Sweden in the last eight, Croatia had to come through a gruelling extra time against host Russia and then a penalty shootout.
But Southgate thinks talk of that handing a physical advantage to England is being overplayed. “We experienced the extra time and penalties (against Colombia) and we know the physical and emotional consequence of that,” he said.
“But any team in a World Cup semifinal is going to find the energy and going to find the motivation. So we won’t win the game just because Croatia had half an hour more football than us three days ago, we’ve got to win because we play better.”
In keeping with his even-handed and calm style, Southgate said his team was neither complacent nor too pumped up for the clash at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, England’s first World Cup semifinal since 1990.
“None of us are satisfied and none of us are particularly hyped-up. It is a game that is very evenly matched, we know what we want to do and we have to focus on our preparation.”