Gareth Southgate was heavily criticized after their 0-0 draw against Scotland in their second group game. There was clamour to get England’s attacking talent on the pitch and for the team to change how they play.
However, Gareth stood firm, doing what was necessary in his eyes to get the job done. His reward? A place in the Euro final and the whole press and fans behind him as he aims to deliver silverware and finally bring it home as they call it.
He has proven he can been ruthless when needed as shown when he subbed off Grealish who had just come on as a sub against Denmark. Gareth Southgate deserves lots of credit.
Euro Final Case For England
This could be the perfect tournament for England. Played 6/7 games at home, boasting the best defensive record in the tournament and the prospect of lifting the trophy on home soil, England have everything going for them.
It’s said defenses win you tournaments and it couldn’t be more true in this case. England’s defense has formed the foundation for their success. With the pace of their forwards in Raheem Sterling, Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford, England are the sort of perfect counter attacking side.
The industry of Kalvin Philips and Declan Rice in midfield has helped their backline immensely and given them dynamism and flexibility in midfield. The back four has been near perfect.
Raheem Sterling has basically dragged this team through the tournament. His pace and directness will cause any defense problems and he will have to be on his game for England to win.
How can England beat Italy?
Italy have struggled in two games in the tournament and in both there are similarities. The games against Austria in the round of 16 and Spain in the Semi final.
In both, Spain and Austria pressed really high and did not give Italy the luxury to play out from the back. Mancini has built this team on Jorginho’s ability on the ball where the play begins with him.
Spain played with a false 9 with one of the forwards dropping deep to cover Jorginho and the others covered any possible passing channels. This resulted in Italy struggling to progress the ball up the pitch and in both we saw Donnarumma have to hoof the ball upfield as he had no other option.
The Italian midfielders are all different and have different roles but when the pressing is so high Italy struggle to progress the ball since they have no natural number 10 to link play. Barella is normally the furthest of the three relying on his work rate to recover defensively.
England posses a number of quick technically gifted players and can comfortably press and cause Italy problems. They have to be willing to take the risks going forward, something that Southgate may not be willing to do.
They second option is riskier and may come back to bite them. England could sit deep and depend on their pacy forwards especially Sterling and create one vs one situations and hope they can get the better of them.
Stretching the Italian backline will be key as we know their centre backs are not as quick. This will be Harry Kane’s main responsibility as we know he loves dropping deep and linking play, so if he can drag Chiellini or Bonucci with him then space opens for the run of Sterling.
Spinazzola missing out is a huge blow to Italy and as we saw in the semis, his absence also affected Lorenzo Insigne. The forward contributed almost nothing and was eventually substituted. Emerson is a decent back-up but the drop in quality from Spinazzola is there for all to see.
Questions for England
Will formation change?
Gareth Southgate could decide to go back to a back five which has proved so successful for him in the past. The win against Germany as well as their semi final finish in the World cup came while playing 5-3-2. He could be tempted to switch back to it.
Saka, Foden or Sancho?
The right side in attack has not had an established first choice and it remains to be seen who starts on Sunday. Saka seems like the most likely bet but considering Italy’s problems on the left of defense, Southgate could be tempted to go with an all out attacker like Sancho.
Raheem Sterling will again be the main man. His pace, directness will cause Italy all sorts of issues and him having a good game will see England win it.
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