Does Gareth Southgate use his subs correctly?

As England near Euro 2024, Gareth Southgate has been criticised for not using his subs correctly in the past - players like Jack Grealish, Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden. Will this change this summer?
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[@martinkerrmusic]

The lack of subs against Italy was so frustrating, but the most glaring example was against Croatia in 2018. One nil up against an aging tiring team who were pushing up for an equalizer, We had the best counterattacking striker in the world on the bench in Jamie Vardy and he didn't get on the pitch. With kane subbed for Vardy at 60 minutes I think we could have won that game three nil.

[@Sillygoooose624]

Steve Holland - players, and Southgate have said he's the coach. Every gripe or problem with how England play, or line up has Steve Holland written all over it.

[@JC-uo6lt]

I have been saying for ages my nan has more balls than Southgate. We have so much potential to change games on the wing, it should almost be a standard to change the wingers at 60 minutes. Fresh legs and ideas plus new challenge for the defenders. I am a huge Phil Foden fan, but I think it was the Italy game last tournament he was non existent and was not taken off until 80 something minute. Just not acceptable, with the talent we have, if a player is not making an impact another player needs to be given a chance! The man City doku example is the correct use of substitutions, change the game and be more aggressive irrelevant of the score.

[@JC-uo6lt]

You cannot become defensive when your 1-0 up to Italy, was so obvious a late and lucky goal was coming then park the bus and roll around collecting free kicks. 1-0 is the time to go get another one. Gareth has been there he should know, it is England's story since I can remember.

[@sparkhenzza9111]

Great ramble ! Agree about the subs in the Italy game when England needed to make a tactical change not a system change to take the initiative away from Italy. Declan Rice desperately needed to rest his mind as well as his body. Grouping Bellingham, Henderson, Sako and Kane in the Italy left corner like teams often do in the last minute would have frustrated the opposition to concede free kicks and give Rice his break. Sometimes you need to play a different team game to get control of the match. Remember Thomas Frank's tactical masterpiece with Brentford nicking 3 goals against Liverpool at Anfield with a completely asymmetrical formation.

[@richardbunn3646]

Its the Italy game for me that showed this the most - his a reactive manager and not a proactive one.

[@garymcghee2249]

Exactly.

[@edenholt4394]

These comments are completely missing the point. Hindsight is everything, if we lose an important game then regardless of whatever substitutes Southgate makes they’ll be deemed “bad decisions” because of the outcome. The game vs France, Giroud scores in the 78th minute making it 2-1 France, so Southgate subs on Sterling and Mount, makes total sense.

[@colour1246]

But you can watch a sub make a difference Southgate’s in game management is poor he’s had England most creative player wasting away on the bench and wonder why we look toothless against other big teams

[@edenholt4394]

@@colour1246 Who are you referring to? Trent?

[@ConorF727]

I think you’re inadvertently making their point for them though; Southgate’s substitutions always seem to be reactionary rather than being proactive and trying to change the game.

[@halfeatengamer3400]

The example I always use is the Italy penalty shootout. If Rashford and Sancho score their pens, Southgate is hailed as a genius. But because they didn’t, it was a poor decision.

[@garymcghee2249]

What about foresight? Is it too much to ask that an England manager is capable of thinking ahead? He panics if things go wrong and doesn't seem to have a coherent Plan B. The best managers know instinctively what to do in the moment and which changes to make. He is too trained in the Graphs, Stats and Clipboard school of management. Southgate's conservatism is a product of his insecurity. He is risk averse. You have to take risks at the highest level. We need a bolder and more instinct-led manager or we won't win anything.

[@terry9819]

You kinda lost me when you said his record was good. His record is bad but it's being compared to rubbish which artificially makes it look good. He has won nothing and is being praised for reaching stages that would have been the bare minimum for England not that long ago.

[@giteausuperstar]

Been saying this for years - when has Gareth ever made a sub or tactical change which positively effected the result of a match. In my memory it’s never.

[@benaspinall252]

Mount won the second penalty v France. Not Gareth or Mason's fault Kane did his NFL audition early.

[@ChannelEnglandFootballCEF]

Finally two lads speaking sense. Mentioned this a lot on my channel. I like Southgate and trust him to make the right decisions. The only question I have always had on my channel is that he has in the past been too reactive rather than proactive around substitutions. Really good topic and I think highlights a key area that needs to change over the summer for England to win those tight games.

[@samuelparkinson5407]

I think it should be considered that playing CB for Everton in a deep block is different to being on the halfway line for England and defending the space. Stylistically I think Quansah is more fitting for starting position over Brainthwaite.

[@martinkerrmusic]

Definitely. It's easy for a defender to look good under Sean dyche, because the whole system is built around defending the box. Much harder to do what Quansah did for Liverpool, And much more relevant to the style England will be playing.

[@ConorF727]

Just because he hasn’t done it for Everton doesn’t mean he can’t do it. Branthwaite has all the attributes to suggest he could do it.

[@halfeatengamer3400]

Branthwaite is the closest replacement for Maguire in terms of profile. He’s very good on the ball and can get forward. He’ll have no issues sitting further up the pitch, pinging passes around.

[@ConorF727]

@@halfeatengamer3400And he’s much faster, I think he’d have absolutely no issues playing in a high line.

[@JurgenKranz]

Nice load of red herrings you got here in your conversation about subs. The op was "does Southagte make game changing subs" It's an interesting question that deserves a better answer than "aw stop complaining about Southgate." I say this as a Southgate supporter

[@leeturton9254]

Big Sam made a point on his podcast...he said why don't we switch it up in games and play a left footer on the left wing and a right footer on the right and get crosses into the box for the likes of Jude and Harry to run on to ....why do we have to keep coming inside all the time?...use the width of the pitch with pace ...seems like it's dying out of the game

[@kimbirch1202]

Gareth subs far too late imo. Even when players are tired or injured ,he doesn't replace them. With so many potential super subs on the bench, we definitely need a proper substitution strategy.

[@stevenesbitt3528]

His in game management is atrocious, it’s the one thing that lets him down really.

[@Cammy_1707]

Sorry but the Italy game was bad. Even the Italians were panicking about subs and he didn’t make them! That guy needs to stop defending him so much

[@ConorF727]

It took Luke long enough to see how obviously brilliant Mainoo is but he got there in the end 😉

[@MultiBurger1]

Not in the biggest games. He hasnt

[@EnglebertFlumperjack]

Ironic what he says at 2:06 as this video is a total non-topic, utterly pointless

[@azalikmar2]

I wrote about this a while back, and I think Southgate is very set in his ways. He seems like everything is pre planned and not on flexible on the day, no halftime changes in approach, no subs before 65 in competitive fixtures. He seems afraid to use more "flair" players, really relies on the safer more conservative individuals. However seeing the squad some things might change, as England generally now do have more "game changers", and a plan "B" in Trent and Watkins.

[@JM-1Le-d9p]

Obvious similarities in the Croatia and Italy matches. In the 2nd half of both games, England couldn't retain possession and were struggling to get out of their own half. In the SF 2018, Croatia wrestled control of the game away from England and were deserved winners. For the Euro's final vs Italy, it's easy for fans to criticise afterwards, but realistically, who would make a sub when you're leading in a final and defending well as a team. That being said, in both cases, it's reasonable to ask why subs weren't made sooner. The France QF was much closer than the other 2 games but it's unrealistic to bring up the subs argument here. On 75 minutes, with the score at 1-1, Southgate is ready to bring on Mount. France at this point are defending their penalty area and they manage to clear the ball away. They take the ball up the field and gain a corner. Mount at this point is still waiting to come on. England defended the corner, but France scored from the 2nd phase. By 79 minutes England are kicking off 2-1 down. Apart from the France corner, the kick off was the earliest opportunity for Mount to come on.

[@halfeatengamer3400]

This is the thing, we didn’t have anyone who could control the game back then. Now we actually have midfielders who can dictate the play, we shouldn’t have these issues.

[@JM-1Le-d9p]

@@halfeatengamer3400 Which midfielders spring to mind?

[@DoFi12]

Taking Saka off against France was one of the worst he’s made. He was our best player.

[@edenholt4394]

Saka coming off for a fresh Raheem Sterling (who was actually good then) doesn’t seem that outrageous to me.

[@martinkerrmusic]

​@@edenholt4394Sterling was completely out of sorts having just come back from having his house robbed. Wasn't having a good season before that either. It was a bizarre choice

[@halfeatengamer3400]

@@edenholt4394I think the better option would have been Rashford in for Foden, as they seemed to struggle more against wingers running at them. But I also don’t blame Southgate’s subs for our downfalls.

[@PaulRichardson4678]

Saka is predictable.....cut inside and shoot over the bar with his left foot. No pace or stamina to justify a full game. Arteta knows it. Southgate knows it.

[@JM-1Le-d9p]

He was injured

[@ianmccartney1974]

Gareth Southgate doesn’t even use his brain properly