DON’T KNOCK SOUTHGATE’S SWITCH-UP

A GREAT success of Gareth Southgate’s reign is the ease with which England’s players switch between a back three and a back four. England played poorly with a three in Hungary at the weekend, yet it would be a retrograde step to start blaming failure on an unfamiliar system. Any team that has a chance of winning the World Cup this winter will be able to slip between shapes and formations, according to the demands of the game. A full back that cannot be coached to play wing-back isn’t world class. If we are placing these limitations on our players again, we will sink back into the mediocrity that preceded Southgate’s arrival.