The head coach dumps the players and is tired? What's wrong with this negative England team

The Paper

2024-06-25 20:28Published on the official account of Shanghai The Paper

England players such as Rice, Kane and Jude Bellingham prepare for their final group game.

In the early morning of June 26, Beijing time, England will usher in the last group game of Euro 2024.

A complete win is undoubtedly the desire of the Three Lions, but judging by the stumbling performances in the first two games, they are far from the best they were hoping for.

What is the reason behind this? England manager Gareth Southgate made the point that his players had been too tired in the previous season to press the opposition at high intensity.

In this regard, the more serious British media conducted research and analysis, and found that things do not seem to be as simple as the manager said.

Are the players tired or not?

For England fans, the first two games of this European Championship, a narrow 1-0 win over Serbia and a 1-1 draw by Denmark, the Three Lions did not play the performance they should have at all.

The chaos on the offensive end is inevitably embarrassing compared to the star-studded midfield lineup, and what makes fans even more unhappy is the large space that the team gives opponents on the defensive end.

In Southgate's words, the reason why it is difficult for the team to come up with high-intensity pressing is that the players who play for the major clubs have played too many games in the past season and are too tired, but the consumption of players is too large, just look at the statistics.

According to statistics agency OPTA, in terms of total minutes played by players at clubs, Germany stands out, with their players playing a total of 85,475 minutes at club level last season, followed by Portugal with 82,345 minutes and then England with 82,143 minutes.

If you limit the range to those who started the first two group games, England's starting line-ups averaged 3,422 minutes at club level last season, behind France and Portugal.

However, if the statistical scope is narrowed down to the "core five in the midfield", the average club playing time of the five players of the England team, Kane, Bellingham, Saka, Foden, and Rice, came to 3,996 minutes last season, finally surpassing teams such as Portugal with 3,933 minutes and France with 3,592 minutes.

England didn't press enough, making it easy for opponents to pick up the ball in their own half.

The pressure intensity is too low

It seems that Southgate's claim that the players are too tired is not unreasonable, but from the statistical point of view, there is not much difference compared to other European powerhouses, and it is far from being the "most consumed".

In this context, the "backwardness" reflected in the team's defensive pressing ability is somewhat eye-catching.

In OPTA's statistics, there is a data called PPDA, which counts the number of passes that the opponent is allowed to complete in each defense, which can also be understood as the "pressure intensity index", the higher the value, the less pressure the team has on the opponent in defense.

And how did England fare in this statistic? Perhaps it can only be described in three words: no eyes.

Southgate's tactics are on the conservative side.

At the top of this list, the team is dominated by Germany, whose players have also spent a lot of money in club competitions, allowing their opponents to complete an average of 8.4 passes per defence.

England recorded a staggering 23.1 appearances, the third-lowest of all the 24 teams at the Euros, with only Albania and Romania lower.

As a strong team, the England team frequently gives up the high-intensity pressing in the middle and high positions in the game, but always takes the initiative to "retreat deeply" like a weak team against a strong team.

Kane is seen as a bit out of place with the current England team's system.

Whether it will change, whether it can be changed

As one of the favourites to win this European Championship, England's performance on the pitch did not satisfy supporters. Former Premier League legend Cesc Fabregas even directly named Kane.

'I don't feel like he's capable of pressing high, others like Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Rice and so on are really pressing very high, but as long as one person relaxes then the system will collapse. The former Spain international confessed.

So, is Kane really unable to play? Faced with doubts about his fitness, the England striker retorted: "I feel fully recovered, the first game was as healthy as the whole season. I was substituted in the second game because the coach wanted to give the front court a new face. ”

In others' analysis, rather than blaming Kane for disrupting England's pressing defensive system, it is more likely that the coaching staff simply did not do a good job of training and pre-match arrangements.

When analysing the current England team, English football legend Alan Shearer believes that Southgate is the first person responsible, "I don't see any plans for the team, the whole team is lacking energy, as if everyone doesn't know where to go. ”

'When you need to press the opposition, the players are confused on the pitch and I think it's a coach's problem and it makes it too easy for the opponent to play in the game.

After the group stage and the knockout rounds, England will undoubtedly face a new level of competition, and if they still relax their grip on their opponents like this, Southgate's side may really be more than lucky.

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