It would have been such a pre-Gareth Southgate England thing to do. Drawing 1-1 with Tunisia,
panic setting in.
Pressure mounting - the norm would be to throw on the
strikers, hump the ball long - just get it in the mixer! - and then,
inevitably, wait for that familiar feeling of disappointment.
But this is Gareth Southgate's England!
A new England with an untwistable stomach! And some of the things we
saw on display during that 2-1 win over Tunisia were truly impressive.
So, what did England actually do so well at?
The basics
The 3-5-2 gave England defensive security, the attacking midfielders
buzzed around the final third pulling defenders out of position, getting
into space on several occasions early on and the team insisted on
passing from the back.
They managed the game well. When Tunisia pressed high initially,
Jordan Pickford afforded a bit of respite and hit his goal kicks long.
As nerves calmed, the build-up play was based around keeping possession
and tiring the opponent with passing and off-the-ball running.
Crucially,
the thing England did better than anything else, is stick to the plan.
They chased the game late on but opted not to throw on 18 strikers and
hit Hollywood passes from defence to the box in the hope of winning a
second ball, instead trusting that their build-up would eventually open
up a chance to score. It did.
It's a lot harder on the legs to defend
against a team who keeps the ball - this time England were that team.
Southgate's
preparation of set-pieces was also superb with a variety of targets and
setups used. Harry Maguire was excellent in the air.
Jordan Henderson key as the number six
Henderson was brilliant and needed to be. The holding midfield role
in Southgate's 3-5-2 is fundamental to how England attack and defend and
without a player who understands the position, the team can lose the
shape.
England wanted to build from the back and did so in a 3-3-2-2 shape.
If Henderson isn't there, the ball has to go long to escape the press.
Kyle
Walker and Harry Maguire split to either edge of the penalty box,
Henderson drops in to form a diamond with the defenders, and he acts as a
pivot around which play is built.
Initially, Tunisia pressed high up the pitch to unsettle England as
they attempted to pass their way out of defence and forced a few nervy
turnovers (from Maguire especially) but as England grew into the game,
their accuracy improved.
This meant they could skip lines of defence and
get the ball forward - with controlled possession - and then look to
utilise their creative players further forward.
In situations like the one above, all Henderson needs to do is whip
the ball to Kieran Trippier on the right wing, or pass back and have
Walker make the same forward pass, and the first line of press is
beaten.
