2024-07-08 17:14:45
Gareth Southgate continues to push his line, ignoring even the harshest criticism
İdman.biz presents an article with a link to livesport.ru.
After a tough 120 minutes and a penalty shootout victory against Switzerland, Gareth Southgate was jumping up and down in front of the England fans as he led them to the semi-finals of their third of four major tournaments. It seems that the team’s football has been less than impressive, to say the least, writes The Athletic.
England were not as close to disaster in the match against the Swiss as they had been in the game against Slovakia, but there were still plenty of problems. However, Southgate has once again found a way to get out of a difficult situation. Ahead is a trip to Dortmund and a match with the Netherlands. If they win, the English will play the final away from home for the first time in their history. Perhaps their opponent there will be Spain.
After each of England’s previous five matches at Euro 2023, there was a sense that the ship would eventually sink without reaching its destination. But that hasn’t happened – at least not yet. Now it’s impossible not to wonder why England are still in contention for the trophy.
Perhaps that is where the strength of Southgate’s coaching history with the national team lies.
At the start, it looked as if England would fail to live up to the standards set at previous major tournaments. Had it not been for Jude Bellingham and his fantastic last-minute goal against Slovakia, Southgate would have been repeating the story of eight years ago, when England ended their Euro 2016 campaign with a shock defeat to Iceland.
But now, no matter how the upcoming match with the Netherlands ends, it can be said that England has successfully performed at the current European Championship. At least in terms of results. Moreover, there is a chance that this story will end in triumph. The Southgate era is reaching its apogee.
It should also be noted that Switzerland is not Slovakia. England played better for 120 minutes than they did against the Slovak team. But at the same time, there was a feeling that Southgate’s team demonstrated approximately the same level as in the first round of the group stage against Serbia (1:0).
The fact is that 10 minutes before the end of the match with Switzerland, the English were on the verge of failure. They were losing 0:1, in the second half they were outwitted again due to a lack of ideas. But then Bukayo Saka decided to strike from outside the penalty area – and the score became 1:1.
This goal will not go down as one of the greatest in the history of the England team, after all, Saka did not score in the 95th minute and not with an overhead kick. But on the other hand, this goal extended Southgate’s stay as head coach. Many at that moment had already managed to “remove” him from the national team.
In the match against Slovakia, the English scored the winning goal almost immediately after the start of overtime. This time, the extra 30 minutes passed according to a different scenario – in fact, they had to fight back, counting on luck and waiting for a penalty shootout. It must be said that they handled this issue calmly and professionally.
England fans, especially those over 25, will be impressed by the confidence Southgate’s side have shown in penalties, something they have never seen before, including when the current manager was an England player.
Some might say England were lucky, given that they only got through to the semi-finals on penalties, scoring a goal in regulation time just ten minutes from time. Plus, Switzerland clearly dominated the second half, while England were far too primitive.
But England still found a way to solve this problem.
Southgate has always tried to emulate Didier Deschamps’s France team, their ability to cover the tournament distance while playing less than attractive football. This summer, the French are following the same plan. It may not be the most spectacular approach, but there is hardly any doubt about its effectiveness now.
After the Switzerland game, Southgate spoke proudly of the savvy and wisdom that England had previously lacked. In a sense, they are now like Real Madrid: they play badly, but they still win.
It is important to note that Southgate has never relied on the individual skill of individual players to achieve results.
The whole point of his football is to be planned, methodical and with an emphasis on teamwork. Southgate’s England team has become efficient and functional, if perhaps a little predictable and even a little impotent when a game doesn’t go their way.
But the current England team has gained something. They now have the feeling that at any moment a joker could emerge to save them. In the match against Slovakia it was Bellingham, and against Switzerland it was Saka. It is possible that the upcoming game against the Netherlands will also have a new hero. The English also seem to have the feeling that there is no situation from which there is no way out.
They may just be starting to acquire that aura – like France or even Real Madrid, who always seem to be able to find a way to win. They just need to prove it in two more games.
Does anyone care anymore that England aren’t creating enough chances? Or that Harry Kane isn’t producing his usual goalscoring form? Yes, they’ve only played one decent second half out of five – so what? They only really start playing at full strength when they’re behind. So what’s wrong with that?
There is a time for serious analysis and there is a time to simply enjoy the journey. The next week could be the most important in the modern history of English football.
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