Tactical Analysis: Gareth Southgate's England 2016 - 2024

[@FourFourTwo]

Hello everyone, Adam here. As you can see we're back home in our old studio now, but all the moving and trying to up the spec of production slightly means this video's nearly a week later than we ideally wanted it to be. KZbin will no doubt batter our reach for that, so if you do enjoy it and you want to give it some love, shares to social media could make a massive difference to us. Anyway, it's transfer season now though, so we're full steam ahead on Yoro, Calafiori, Dewsbury-Hall, de Ligt, etc, and will be doing a tactical preview for as many clubs as we can between now and August 17th! Much love x

[@deshabble]

iNgland

[@Paulo-jl3tk]

I agree with all your positives about Southgate, and that France game was the closest he’s got to the magic formula. However, his in game decision making is exasperating. If we’re going to kick it long because we don’t have midfielders who can pass, then play a target man up front and put pace in and around him. Why play two number 10s behind a number 9 who thinks he’s a 10 anyway, and have them all running around the same space that our midfield can’t seem to get the ball into. It was noticeable how Koeman used his bench to tighten up the game in the semi-final. He closed out the space for England and stopped them progressing the ball into those half spaces that they wanted to play in. After the early lead, this was essentially Koeman’s ‘Croatia moment’ and he rose to it, and made changes that affected the game and turned it back into a 50-50 contest. I don’t think Gareth is capable of making those kind of changes in-game.

[@ac1dP1nk]

Aww the little elves hard at work to bring us pretty pretty graphics and unseen clips

[@Will-cl1ve]

Brilliant as always Adam. If you could pick any player of any nationality to be ‘that’ player for England who would it be, and who do you think is the closest player England have fulfilling ‘that’s role????

[@njyo]

@adamclery, cannot find you on Mastodon. Great analysis tho, thanks!

[@thegoldengunman]

Adam, you are by far the best analyst in the content creator space. I am so glad you pointed out the "sitting back after going ahead" myth.

[@LionelChikwendu]

Speaking facts bro

[@stevendchu]

Final possession stats: 2018 Croatia 54 England 46 (ENG only had 1 shot on target the whole game) 2021 Italy 62% England 38% 2024 Spain 64% England 36% Perhaps "sitting back" is a myth but there is no denying that England could never control the midfield and were never a major threat to score a 2nd goal in any of these 3 big games.

[@FourFourTwo]

@@thegoldengunman 🤝🏻

[@thegoldengunman]

@@stevendchu Yep that's his point! In fact I'd argue England don't even do that before they go ahead either. Objectively speaking, under Southgate England did not give away many opportunities for the opposition to score against them. But equally they never scored highly statistically for opportunities created either. And that's because of the point you and Adam make.

[@rossskipworth]

@@stevendchu England deserved to lose vs Croatia Italy and Spain but England were the better team against France in the 2022 World cup. The xG was ENGLAND 2.4, FRANCE 0.73

[@leecaldon6099]

This guy's tactical analysis the past few weeks has been tremendous - the best analysis I have ever seen.

[@John-yz8dp]

You don't find this level of analysis from Gary Lineker & co. Well done gents!

[@Machinationstudio]

Wasn't it Mourinho that said You don't have to have ever been a horse to be a jockey?

[@PatrickCruickshank-w7v]

@@Machinationstudio Was Arrigo Sacchi

[@gtramsay]

@@Machinationstudio He said a lot of stupid shit. But not that.

[@gtramsay]

The nail of one of Adam's broken fingers..... that's Gary Neville, that is.

[@commentarytalk1446]

The clip of Bellingham having a word with the manager against Spain probably defines Southgate's entire 2024 tournament tbh.

[@novianovioTV]

Ancelotti he’s thinking.

[@liam8664]

As a West Ham fan, Southgate reminds me so much of Moyes, took a joke of a team and turned them into a very dependable squad which you could believe in, even if the football was turgid at times The Moyes x Southgate era of football in my life might prove to be the best years, and I am absolutely appreciative for what both of them did, but I think it was probably the right time to move on from both and hopefully to a bright future

[@njm6498]

Well said mate

[@tombroad1467]

⚒ - They both walked so JLo and whoever is next for England can run ❤

[@Profanity1]

Joke of a team? 😂 statistically, some of the best in the world. He deserves credit for bringing them together and dropping club rivalries. Beyond that, he was out of his depth, as clearly shown in the recent euros. Under a different manager, we could have won the finals, especially against Italy, where he decided it would be a great idea to bring on players who hadn't touched a ball for penalties, all of which missed🤡 how the media didn't bury him for that, I'll never know..

[@Profanity1]

@davidfebreeze428 This is such a nonsense argument. Look at the run of games we had to reach both finals. Even with that, we were lucky to make the finals this time, Bellingham, Saka and Watkins saved us with moments of brilliance, absolutely nothing to do with Southgate. He failed at Middlesbrough, and I promise you, he will fail at whatever club is naive enough to take him on next. Never known a man be celebrated do much for achieving absolutely nothing..

[@Profanity1]

@@davidfebreeze428 Foden - Premier league player of the season. Kane - top goalscorer in the German league. Bellingham - one of the best players in LaLiga. Ah yes anti football is England's only hope 😂 should have guessed you were just a bitter hater. I'm guessing Scottish or Irish?

[@bens4602]

Southgate had a tactical masterclass in 2018. None of the players in that team could function as a serious side unless massive restrictions were made. It had to be safe, defensive and reliant upon Kane. Had we at any point flung Lingard and Alli forward and left the defence exposed, or tried to play better football, we’d have been knocked out. Huge over-achievement. It’s moving to think where we’ve made it to since then. We were a primitive set up. We just hoped we wouldn’t get knocked out in the groups. And there was such dross in that squad, I can’t believe that lot made a semi final. The 2020 Euros we were better in, we took the game to teams more, we had more technical players and it’s a shame he made some elementary mistakes because that’s what we could have won. The 2022 WC we were the best team in. I’ve never seen us play like that, we were like prime Brazil. I cried when we went out. I thought that was our time. The 2024 Euros showed me teams are lacking energy because of a packed club season and clubs are wrongly trying to push those injuries onto the national tournaments. That goes for everyone not just England. But you’re right, lo and behold. You can’t play like underdogs with the embarrassment of riches we have. Pochettino with his intensity or even Potter who’s better in possession will improve this. What Southgate has done metaphorically is take England from a team of boys to a team of men. Where we had to cover people’s weakness and hold firm through what could have been dark times, he pulled us through with dignity. Look at us now. We could be world beaters. That started with Southgate. 🫡

[@stevendchu]

2021 is still the one that hurts the most for me. Look at Italy's 11 on the day. Their forwards were Chiesa-Immobile-Insigne (who's about 6 months from an MLS move) Spinazzola was their best attacking full back threat, but he was out. Southgate should've never been so scared as to go with 5 defenders against that side. Italy's midfield, however was the best in the tournament. Veratti and Jorginho, like Pirlo before them slowly passed England to death. Playing 2 v 3 against them in the middle of the park was suicidial.

[@cdog857]

@@bens4602 best comment I've seen since the euros started

[@KevinSheedy10]

😂

[@bonglesnodkins329]

England didn’t adjust tactically against France when it became apparent that the ref was not going to punish tactical fouls. That’s how France won - constant tactical fouls to break up England’s attacks.

[@njm6498]

Very well said mate!

[@dominicmeredith]

You're absolutely right about the France game in 2022. France's only tactic for dealing with Bukayo Saka was to kick lumps out of him and hope the referee didn't do anything about it (although to be fair that did work).

[@LazerREJ]

Adam Wharton and mainoo are the press resistant players that England need?

[@badabing8884]

But neither have much international experience and Mainoo was largely anonymous in the final.

[@LazerREJ]

I see what you mean. Maybe Wharton would of been better. To not even try him, to shoe-horn players into positions that they are not comfortable with is criminal.

[@shutupMaji]

​@@badabing8884Southgate should have bled them in far earlier along with Gordon/Eze at LW

[@nameanteater4772]

I agree that is what is best on paper for beating a press, but playing 2 teenagers with little to no experience internationally as the double pivot will likely result in 1 of 2 things: 1. They crumble under the pressure of playing for England at their first international tournament (even high level tournament) in a final 2. They aren’t trusted by their teammates due to being so young and having not played with them enough

[@cdog857]

Not watched all of this but I’ll jump on something at the start. The Eric Dier of 2015 2016 was superb in cm for spurs. Go back and watch the games. He had a big drop off over the next couple of years, but not unreasonable to have him in the there. Rooney was at that point playing deeper and doing ok tbh.

[@stevewturnbull]

Finally. Finally. Finally! Someone's nailed England's perennial problem - the lack of a central playmaker and midfield creativity.

[@keirlumsden]

They had that player for the 2024 tournament that could help play out from the back… his name is Ross Barkley.

[@ChrispyP]

Adam, you absolutely smashed it hitting the right tone with this analysis. It was great to get some level-headed perspective on Southgate's reign and the hope we should all have for the future squad.

[@Niko-hi5my]

Another interesting tactical aspect of the World Cup 18 was his use of Sterling. He hadn't scored for England for ages and everyone was calling for him to be dropped, but Southgate wanted him next to Kane to STRETCH THE GAME and give the runners behind space. Hm, I guess you can't keep everything in your mind...

[@stevendchu]

Yeah it's so baffling to me that Southgate once used two attackers as 8s (Lingard and Dele) and a box to box CM (Henderson) as his lone DM. It's like when he first got the job he was so positive and not cynical at all

[@matthewdobson100]

I thought that was the 2020(21) Euros where Sterling was retained despite a poor season. pretty sure in 2018 there wasn't really any debate about him.

[@Richard-d1y]

​@@stevendchu He changed after Croatia.

[@MarlonAnthony]

@@matthewdobson100 I do remember people actually wanted Rashford to be playing over Sterling a lot during that tournament.

[@SAMB542]

This is great stuff. A rugby man here, but love this detailed analysis. I’d like two things, a description of what the numbers mean. What role should a 10 carry out etc. also, what a perfect team looks like to you. How should each player play if in a certain position and team alignment. Obviously there isn’t one so perhaps some good team set ups to combat against other teams. Like what would work best against a 442 or something? Perhaps you have an example of a near perfect game from a team. The right players in the right position in the right system. Thanks

[@Chris-zs6fd]

Awesome video, thank you Adam. I agree with the rest of the comments - this is the best tactical analysis on YT. The Jude Bellingham footage of him having a go at Southgate is MAD, Gareth doesn't even acknowledge him - it's like Southgate had just gone into paralysis. Also, love the accidental inference that Leo DiCaprio is a pdf file at the end, polished everything off lol

[@mega7070]

I have the 2018 World Cup run to thank for my love of football. It was that WC that made me decide to start watching club football

[@DJMorley18]

This is a fantastic video highlighting the achievements and shortcomings of Southgate. I was always more of a supporter of Southgate before this tournament (whilst being frustrated at his tactical style/game management) but desperately wanted him to leave after this EUROs. Its easy to forget how much progress we made from 2018-2022, and actually in 2022 we were a great team who did more than enough to beat France. He deserves so much credit for those first 4-5 years. However, 2024 made it absolutely clear the team had outgrown him, and we would be much more effective if we played a style more suited to the players. With the current landscape of international football, if a manager can come in and get the best out of Kane, Foden, Bellingham and Saka (plus others) for the next three tournaments England would have a massive chance of winning something.

[@nudisco7882]

Kane isn't playing the next 3 tournaments mate. Depending on the next manager, he might not make the next one since he doesn't high press

[@DJMorley18]

@@nudisco7882 The pressing is a non-issue when its one player, see Argentina with Messi. As long as you have a system around him who press it makes little difference.

[@nudisco7882]

@@DJMorley18 England isn't Argentina. And yes it matters - just rewatch the matches when Kane came off. The press became effective immediately. And England flowed much better as a result.

[@benswan7315]

I agree with the point about the Italy game, people who say 'we should have pushed on to get a second goal', no pal, we literally couldn't cause they denied us anything in their defensive third and kept winning the ball back and countering us which was frightening to watch, so we dropped back after about the 35th min.

[@mustuknow2606]

The best tactical analysis channel on KZbin

[@MrFlyingguy]

this chap helps me to enjoy and understand football more than i ever did....

[@excelucate]

Great analysis as always. And you made the point well about giving Southgate credit for what has been achieved since he started (he took on a shambles - thanks for reminding us of that). But also appreciated the honesty at the back end. Southgate is good at what he does (defensively) but the team / game has outgrown his strengths and needs a forward-thinking approach. Keep up the great work guys, looking forward to the new season!!

[@Matt-ou7tu]

"England don't have that profile of midfielder" ... *coughs* Adam Wharton.

[@DJMorley18]

By the next two tournaments there will be a couple of players who can play that role for sure with a more forward thinking manager.

[@badabing8884]

He was there for experience.

[@LazerREJ]

If Wharton is in the squad. Then use him 🙂

[@ac1dP1nk]

Are you going to choose him ahead of rice or Mainoo or Palmer

[@dicarpio2177]

Rice can do so much more than he’s allowed to for England. He’s always the sitting midfielder but he can carry the ball and play better passes than he’s allowed to.

[@punkrokkme7]

The player at 20:25 is Adam Wharton. He simply does things that no currently known England internationals do. If you’re skeptical, I invite you to scrutinise his abilities between now and 2026. Then you’ll get it too

[@kevindruce8915]

Correct, we need an orchestrator in midfield. That is why Pickford hoofed it forward so often against decent opposition. I thought we played well against France in the World Cup semi with the midfield being more effective than normal against good opponents. So I was hoping to build on that.

[@Best_game59]

This was such a very informative video. England have players who can play through pressure- Mainoo is one, Bellingham is another. Even without mavericks who can turn 360 degrees to evade pressure the current players can be organised to evade pressure like the way De Zabi Brighton played - bait pressure then play around it with triangles and subtle movements. If that one fails, play to win second balls over a tall striker like Toney who can hold or flick the ball to a team mate....

[@stuartrusso6948]

Absolutely spot on, the balance was perfect, respect where its due to Southgate and yet acknowledging that a change is needed to take forward the new breed of footballers available to England, very much because of what he has done for his country. Have England ever really had that type of player who can play and thrive in tight spaces? Scholes maybe but his talent was wasted so as to incorporate two more box-to-box goal scorers like Lampard and Gerrard. Who is the nearest we have now? Mainoo and Wharton maybe ? Both have shown for their clubs they can operate with 2-3 players around them and happy to play quick one touch football, but then you need the team around them that will move and be creating the options. I thought England looked incredibly flat when it came to off the ball movement when trying to pass it out from the back and through midfield.

[@rspjfrost1400]

Excellent video. Very balanced unlike the garbage i am subjected to by Fans. The reason i call myself a supporter and not a Fan of England, is Fan is short for "fanatic". The rubbish we are subjected to by mainstream media and fans who, from how they talk, you can tell have watched very little football in their lives, and just use England matches as an excuse for a knees-up and moaning about something other than weather and government. Euro 20 will live in my heart forever. Tournament football is now really really tough and USA26 in that heat, i think we will do well to progress deeply, as technical possession at walking pace is likely to win that tournament. Credit to Southgate and i hope to see him back in football in the future. The next scapegoat will be Kane who before his back injury and a system for England that did not suit him, had 1 of the best seasons ever of an Englishman abroad. The new manager will need to deal with very big egos and stay focused on fnding a simple yet effective sytem that can work in high heat and high pressure

[@HarryH256]

I think Southgate's man management deserves more credit, considering how he's gotten career best performances out players (Sterling, Maquire, arguably Hendo to name a few) and seems to have forged a desire to play and win despite (new) superstar egos. Otherwise great video.

[@ComradeOgilvy1984]

Southgate's man management is both very good and very bad. He has gotten some great performances out of some players, but he seemed to cave to the pressure of the situation by relying on favorites, ignoring what was happening on the pitch and changes his bench could offer.

[@JacobCash420]

@@ComradeOgilvy1984 100% true Southgate has done well but always makes slight mistakes which cost the whole tournament southgate never gave players like jude a rest it was wild how we had players not playing

[@ComradeOgilvy1984]

@@JacobCash420 Southgate's substitution habits are mindbogglingly poor. He has some kind of serious mental/emotional block which prevents him from thinking straight.

[@samueldchubb7617]

Man Adam Clery is so cool

[@Djurel]

Fair assessment, and agree with the 4-3 comment. The only quibble I would have is Mainoo is a player who is comfortable breaking a press, it needs defenders who have confidence to pass to him. We also need to learn to whirl better in midfield, sometimes returning the pass to the originator and moving, etc.

[@SeriousLee1977]

Such a solid take. Been saying for years out of all the top ranked teams, we’re the worst at being comfortable holding the ball.

[@bonglesnodkins329]

That’s why Southgate said he missed 2021 Kalvin Phillips. People laughed at him, but he was absolutely right. Phillips was really, really good at that.

[@PatrickBurns69]

Thank you, Adam, I enjoyed these videos very much. One video I'd like to see is comparing different Euro 2024 team's work off the ball. I think Southgate stuck with Kane, Foden and others so long each game in this tournament because he trusted the work they put in off the ball for the first 60-70 minutes of each game, limiting chances of opponents and disrupting their build up, on top of their attack? That's why I think Cole Palmer didn't get more starts and minutes, because Southgate didn't know/trust what kind of off-the-ball work he'd put in as a starter and for 60+ minutes. Highlight videos show mostly on-the-ball moments, but it'd be interesting to 'highlight England off-the-ball, compared to the same for the other 3 semi-finalists. (Take this with a grain of salt.)

[@MuhammadImHardBruceLee]

Foden: Best player in England (when playing in the best team in England). Bellingham: Best player in Spain (when playing in the best team in Spain/Europe). Harry Kane: Best striker in Europe (when playing in/taking pens for the 11-time league-winning side in a farmer's league). A big problem is that only one of these players can play in the system used during Euro 2024.

[@misomiso8228]

21:21 PLEASE do a video on how England COULD have set up, and what his alternative subs were. Why not dropping Foden or Bellingham and putting Gordon on the Left? Why not start with Toney? How about Adam Wharton in midfield?

[@ac1dP1nk]

Yes this would be great to see

[@wrfootball3847]

​@ac1dP1nk would be interesting, but still quite likely we would have lost to Spain even then. Then we gotta think of the next thing to blame 😅 Sometimes there are simply teams that are better no matter what you do. Could England have done better? Absolutely. But would it have been enough to beat Spain? Probably not.

[@Tesmond256]

@@wrfootball3847 consider how many Spanish players you would take into the England team, there might be 3 or 4, but there are more English players that would make it into the Spain team.

[@Zahrul3]

@@Tesmond256 But Spain had pace, and a lot of it, which England lacked sorely.

[@Tesmond256]

@@Zahrul3 Watkins 36km/h, Kane 33km/h Morata 32km/h. Gordon 37km/h Williams 36km/h. Yamal 32km/h Saka 36km/h. Objectively worse pace.

[@robozot]

I don’t know anything about football, but I understood everything about this analysis. Super interesting and summed up with the idea of underdog attitude - that’s how he started, but he carried the mindset too far. The psychology of that makes perfect sense and explains what seemed inexplicable.

[@BB-zg4jz]

Great analysis, as ever. Couple of points from me: England did drop deeper, which was highlighted at the time on TV, so that must be a consequence of going in front/the other side suddenly waking up and putting us under pressure. And the solution to that must be to keep pressing/closely marking the opponents. Secondly, and most importantly, who do we play in that pivotal role in front of defence to break through the press/fill in that gap you pointed out?

[@jeremybenson75]

Fantastic analysis per usual. This channel more than any other has contributed to my enjoyment of the beautiful game.

[@CarlinConnolly]

from 2019 to 2022 there was a clear progression but we never really went with the formation that would have caused problems for all the big teams... 4-3-3 with 2 pacy inverted wide attackers who could finish to get the best out of Kane's fairly unique skillset. Gareth finally succumbed to the english disease after Qatar and tried to fit all our best attackers into the same team.

[@johnonearth]

Really enjoyed this analysis throughout the Euros. This should be on mainstream telly for the next World Cup, like on Channel 4 or something.

[@KennethThaarup]

@FourFourTwo you absolutely nailed that Leo joke at the end. I loved your delivery. Thank for for that unexpected laugh! Also very good video!

[@capturesexpress]

Interesting to see the analysis that most of us footie fans instinctively feel. An elite manager would turn one of the players available to him into the midfielder you speak of that we need. I'm a Wolves fan and I'm not saying Nuno is an elite manager but he turned a decent championship midfielder into the central defending captain of a team that achieved Europe in its first season back in the Premier League.

[@Richard-d1y]

International managers don't have time for that.

[@bonglesnodkins329]

If you erase the years 2018-2022 from people’s memories, and the 2024 tournament had been Southgate’s first one in charge, coming on the back of the Roy Hodgson era, people would think the team had done *phenomenally*, and would be remembering it as one of the great England campaigns, better than 1990 and 1996. The fact that most people are talking about it as a huge disappointment shows you just how high the bar has now been set, by Southgate himself.

[@paulwalshe850]

I think this analysis is bang on. We just couldn’t play through the midfield especially when we came up against a better team in possession - but yep, the system we had worked to a point for sure. Great points around the Italy performance in 2020 as well (as painful a watch as this was)

[@kylelacy-andrews9017]

Great video! I remember watching that France quarter final (fairly drunk admittedly) and at HT being convinced England were gonna come back and win the game because they really were playing well. If they had won then maybe the whole Southgate discussion would be completely different, but it definitely felt like the wrong manager in these Euros.

[@malcolmgoldie]

Great analysis and best balanced assessment of Southgate’s tactics I’ve heard.

[@punkrokkme7]

Loved the channel’s analysis throughout the euros, and this was a nice tactical bookend to the Southgate era Looking forward to all the future videos to scratch my tactical itch!

[@aidantalbot9495]

can't believe you haven't got a squeeze Adam as you are a really funny person; come on football fan girls, one of you must fancy him, he's got passion and a sense of humour and intelligence and probably a pass into many football games : )

[@GB-vp3vx]

...two pages in the Sunday Times Sports section (28th July) titled 'Needed: An English midfielder to match the greats of Europe'...plenty of echos in this article of Adam's analysis...but also some interesting suggestions of young footballers who might progress to be this type of player...

[@mh.1.]

_I feel like the press resistant/play dictating midfielder problem was solved with both Mainoo and Wharton together._

[@mattinterweb]

Well said. It did my head in throughout the tournament the way so called English 'fans' abused Southgate. Did he create a system that would get the best out of his players this tournament? No. Did he put England back on the map from the England DNA project, U21's and Seniors? Yes. He wasn't the right man for this tournament and that's the FA's fault, but England is immeasurably in a better place than when he arrived.

[@MisterMurhl]

This dudes analysis is so good.

[@driziiD]

Adam Clearly you my man are class

[@iankclark]

Not addressed or barely addressed in this video: - subs way too late - Wharton at 6 - sticking with Kane

[@Richard-d1y]

His subs at the recent euros were incredible. What do you mean?

[@Tesmond256]

@@Richard-d1y everyone called for them 20 minutes before he made them, and the extra 20 minutes would increase the probability of their success.

[@jackaboy123]

@@Richard-d1y Southgate? Mate, it was so fucking obvious, unless you were blind, you could see that Southgate was playing favourites. Watkins and Palmer gave England such a good edge and were even the ones to make the winning assist and goal in the semi-finals against the Dutch at like the 85th minute. And they were benched for like 70 minutes in the finals, who is that dumb to bench players that CLEARLY win.

[@Richard-d1y]

@jackaboy123 Let's be honest... Southgate couldn't win. He plays Palmer and Watkins and he would get HAMMERED for dropping Kane and Foden after their seasons. And you know it. You just hate Southgate. With regards subs... his subs were amazing. I would bet his subs had a bigger impact than anyone else's in the tournament. But again, you just hate him, so it doesn't matter what the facts are.

[@jackaboy123]

@@Richard-d1y I don't hate him, the problem was that, 1: He was a long ball merchant when no one against the Dutch or Spain could win headers and 2: He never utilized the actual good players as proven by the stats from the euros until it was too late. The subs were good, the subs took England to the final. The subs were made too late.

[@bens4602]

People are right about Wharton. He really could change everything. It’s that simple.

[@colinlogan3397]

Loved this deep dive of Gareth's reign. Bravo.

[@samerick2787]

Good to be back to the OG blue screen😅, The Euro’Background was cool though🔥💪🏾

[@gtramsay]

I am not convinced by Adam's dismissal of the 'going into your shell after scoring' criticism. It may be a nuanced thing of not necessarily denying what happened, but offering an alternate explanation for it. I've always felt that England's loss of control and impetus IMMEDIATELY upon scoring a goal in a big game under Gareth was probably down to attitude/self-belief rather than general tactics or specific instructions from Gareth. But it still happened. Adam's suggestion that our opponents always responded so promptly and so overwhelmingly that we were simply forced on to the back foot (and didn't have the nous to change things) doesn't quite chime with me. First, not all of those teams came back at us really strongly right from the get-go; it really felt more like a gradual process, and one that WE were initiating - inviting them on to us by suddenly being so passive. (And this sometimes combined with switches in tactics and personnel that seemed definitely directed towards extreme defensiveness. One of the most flabbergasting examples for me was in the Slovakia game. Slovakia were clearly exhausted in the last ten minutes of normal time, had already taken off their strongest goal-threat, Schranz, and were then clearly demoralized by conceding two goals within a minute either side of the start of extra time. They were absolutely there for the taking, if we'd gone for the jugular over the next ten minutes or so after Kane's goal. They did not have the energy or the self-belief to come after us. But we made a bunch of defensive substitutions and started sitting back; they sensed they might still have a chance and started coming on to us.... and we were left clinging on by our fingernails to a win that should have been very easy [in normal time, if we'd taken a more aggressive approach from the outset]. Even Toney's introduction felt a bit 'defensive' - like he was being brought on not as a strike threat, but as a hold-up man to give us a long out-ball,.... and then, since we'd rarely sent anyone up to support him, for him to just hang on to the ball as long as possible to run the clock down. Indeed, when he first came on at the very end of the 90, it felt like Gareth might already be thinking about the slim chance of a shootout....) Also, we can occasionally play out through a press, when we try; but we don't really give ourselves the opportunity to do that when we immediately funnel everyone back behind the ball; if even one or two players stayed 10 or 15 yards higher up the pitch, we would have options for trying to play out; but when everyone is camped along the edge of the penalty area, of course we're going to be trapped for long periods, and lumping it long becomes our only way to get some short-term relief. And we were always strangely capable of getting back on the front foot as soon as our opponents equalised, or went ahead. (It's surely not some inviolable law of football that all games are inherently cyclical, that the momentum will inevitably shift towards the side that's just conceded?! There are plenty of teams who manage to stay on top after scoring, and push on to get another goal and another.) Rather than our opponents responding too well and not giving us any further opportunity to play, I think Adam's point about the 'under-dog mentality' of England under Southgate is more germane. I always felt Gareth's 'personality', as a manager at least, presented as conservative, ultra-cautious, and frankly unduly fearful of the opposition; and even if that didn't necessarily express itself in the tactics and selection (but it did), I feel it probably rubbed off on the players psychologically: they didn't feel they had the quality to beat the big boys - or even Slovenia or Slovakia - in an open game, so they generally just set out to be very defensively solid, while hoping to nick a result by finding the odd goal somewhere (most probably from a set piece); and that led to them being terribly afraid to make a mistake, because at the back of their minds it seemed like giving one goal away would almost inevitably be fatal. And, by a cruel paradox, that nervousness and uncertainty made them more error-prone: again and again we've seen players who naturally know where to find space and show for a pass when they play for their clubs just failing to make those movements for England, and again and again we've seen players who rarely misplace a pass for their club sloppily playing the ball to an opponent.... The iron self-belief that Gareth seems to have managed to inculcate in our approach to penalties was, sadly, completely lacking in every other aspect of our game.

[@timothymcgregor311]

I agree with what you said. The other issue with this last tournament is that he took unfit players, I don't believe he had done that previously, but I could be wrong.

[@mh.1.]

_He took an unfit maguire to euro 2020_

[@0_DR]

Great analysis as always Adam. We should have seen the back of GS after the 2020 final on home soil. To this day I still can’t believe it took up until 15 minutes remaining of that game for a substitution, when it was so obvious a change was needed much earlier. Mancini had a proactive approach which gave Italy the momentum, whilst GS just looked out of his depth.

[@thinkpadman1]

Just came across post Euro 2024 Analysis Vdo of your channel before this one. Your channel are the most thorough on formation and general tactics. Worth listening. Hat’s off

[@RaymondwLin]

In the final, just after Palmer equalised, when England had the momentum…Southgate lined up Trippier and Gallagher to come on. Trippier for Shaw make sense as he’s not 100% match fit. But Gallagher as a player to come on to push for a winner? Unless he is planning him to play as a surprise No.9 I would argue Southgate was trying to DEFEND the 1-1 into Extra Time, rather than trying to push on to find a winner. Then Spain scored, that’s when Toney came on…an actual No.9. So yes, I am going to stick with the opinion that Southgate likes to cling on instead to push on. The Gallagher moment tells me what was his thinking, and if you are a player on the pitch, you wouldn’t think “the gaffer is sending on a match winner for us!” I deeply appreciate Southgate’s work and his record, odds are we will never get into consecutive Euro finals in my lifetime ever again. But that is a different and separate topic to whether I think he plays too negatively. As I said…Gallagher isn’t a player to bring on to find a winner with 10mins to go in normal time. Gallagher is a player to bring on to keep the score as is, to hold on, to defend.

[@bonglesnodkins329]

He wasn’t bringing Gallagher on to push for a winner. He just needed fresh legs.

[@RaymondwLin]

@@bonglesnodkins329 that’s my point exactly! He wasn’t bringing players on to push for a winner…he was putting on fresh legs HOLDING on to be ready for extra time.

[@Richard-d1y]

​@@RaymondwLinFootball is not that simple. Gallagher is very good at pressing. So you could easily say that bringing him on was a positive move as it'd give us a better chance of getting the ball back to then attack. It doesn't matter how good our attack is if we can't get the ball. So maybe Gallagher was a positive move to go for the win.

[@RaymondwLin]

@@Richard-d1y They why not bring him on when they were losing 2-1?

[@Richard-d1y]

@RaymondwLin Well, it is a very different situation. I presume the plan with 5 minutes to score a goal was to just get the ball forwards as quickly as possible. But I don't know. My only point is that tactical decisions can be more nuanced than they appear. Again, you can have ten Messi's on the pitch but if you don't have the ball it is irrelevant.

[@johnhoney657]

Surely Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo and Jude Bellingham are all press resistant midfielders that should be able to work their way up the field? The problem is that Southgate was largely playing Bellingham as a #10 and so Rice and Mainoo were trying to do it alone and getting outnumbered, and there weren't wide options in space for them to get it to. If you played a 4-3-3 with Rice as pivot and Mainoo/Bellingham only slightly ahead, then those three should be able to play through. But you need outlets further up who will run with the ball out wide and drag the opposition away from the press.

[@TMHG91]

I think he did evolve somewhat, or at least try to, with the way in which he was trying to play this summer. However, he obviously had a role in mind for both Rice and Bellingham, a role which they both once played at West Ham and Dortmund, however it quickly became apparent that they are both no longer that type of player - which greatly disrupted the team's balance. For as good as Guehi was as well, he didn't carry the ball forward like maguire either which also further limited our movement on the left side. I think this is why we started to revert to type in the knockouts. My biggest frustration in reverting to type, was that we didn't try and replicate the prior success of Rashford and Sterling alongside Kane, with someone like Gordon on the left and Foden or Saka down the right. I hope the next guy gets it right, but the only real way they can win people over is to win that first trophy in what will be 60 years - big ask!

[@peejayq]

Great videos and analysis keep Up the great work

[@df2365]

Great analysis! I'll admit I'm not that knowledgeable about the intricate details of football tactics despite being a huge football fan, however, at a much less technical (and knowledgeable) level these were pretty much also my views on the Southgate era and why England have always struggled since 66 and will lilkely still struggle against the big teams to some extent in future whoever the manager is. And in my view the World Cup in 2022 was his best tournament despite it being his worst on paper, which I think you are also implying here.

[@nicksaunders4438]

Amazing video. Super interesting! My question is, having identified that fact we can’t play dominant football in the centre with the players we have, also outlining the fact that the talent of players outgrew Southgate. Which managers out there have proven they can do what you’ve outlined we need? Do they have the stature to command that level of talent? are they even English and is there any viable way we can get them this calendar year?

[@edmanning274]

Spot on... everything you said is spot on.

[@Redonepunch]

They didn’t lose to France because of Kane’s penalty miss, they lost because they collapsed mentally after the miss. There was plenty of time left, but nobody ever talks about that.

[@bonglesnodkins329]

They lost because they didn’t adjust to the weak refereeing. France realized early on that they could use tactical fouls with impunity to break up England’s attacks.

[@matthewdobson100]

they lost because Griezmann was unplayable in the second half (or most of the game really), he just dominated and we couldn't shut him down. tactical fouls, the penalty miss and mental fragility are just excuses.

[@Redonepunch]

​@@matthewdobson100 I agree with you. I think people saying England were much better than France are forgetting how France like to play. They only attacked when they needed/wanted to score and they always looked dangerous when they did attack during the game. I also think England collapsed mentally, but the media and pundits didn't talk about it. They only talked about the penalty miss.

[@stevendchu]

Southgate is fundamentally, a limited manager tactically. He had great success based of a simple system: -3ATB with at least one DM to provide defensive solidity -threat from set pieces -wingbacks who can cross -Kane dropping deep to play runners in behind to compensate for a lack of creative mids -as well as three gift wrapped easy knockout paths in 2018, 2021, and 2024. The losses of Maguire (set piece threat) Shaw (natural width on left) Sterling and Rashford (run in behind) have shown his shortcomings this year and how Gareth really doesn't have a plan B

[@alphonsoacqua]

This is a good analysis.

[@wrfootball3847]

Southgate wasnt perfect but getting us to 2 finals, albeit a little ugly gave us the chance to win the whole tournament (twice). Previous managers although maybe better calibre didnt, despite prettier football. Thats because many times we came 2nd in group and got more difficult path, crashing out early. Southgate did well to make sure they win their groups to get better path. Thats the whole point isnt it?! Reward for topping groups. He navigated the tournaments well. Get to the final and you have a 90 min game to win whole thing, but crash out in QF, you got zero chance. Of course i wanna play pretty and win, but if someone said "in 2026 WC they will play ugly yet again but get to the final" i am definitely taking it!

[@ComradeOgilvy1984]

Good analysis. I would add that playing boring defensive football is forgivable at the international level, but playing a low block out of possession without any counterattacking threat is unnecessarily conceding a lot of control of the game to the opposition -- I find that decision rather strange. Without Sterling/Rashford on the left threatening wide spaces behind, it was so easy to smother Saka on the right, this year. It was also strange about how casual they were about setting up passing triangles in wide spaces -- no sense of conviction, even when the central channel was clogged with 4-5 opposition players. No Plan B, indeed.

[@rickygranger5978]

Great job of explaining things buddy. As you say. Most viewers/supporters as watching drunk and in pubs. (I’m guilty) great to see a break down by someone that clearly has so much passion for football. 👊🏼

[@dondamon4669]

Great analysis and definitely got the balance right

[@andrewpearson5504]

Dropping the Cleryfication once again. Nice work. Go Three Lions! Onto the Nations League. Woo Hoo.

[@rizi7832]

i feel like southgate was a great transitional manager, got england back actually in the top scene, but couldnt take it all the way there as he's just not that type of manager, did an amazing job of regrowing englad but i feel like it is time to move on great analysis by the way

[@dreadful_name2924]

Something I don’t think is getting any thought is that it was only 14 years ago that the England DNA bit even got commissioned. Those metronome style players have barely had chance to even come through yet. By the next tournament the likes of Mainoo, Wharton, Archie Gray Tyler Morton might have become that. But even the greats like Andrea Pirlo weren’t that type of player straight out of the academy.

[@FanVarious]

Brilliant content as always.

[@drownem2920]

The 2018 system was the best thing he ever did but he has a lot to thank Potch for that success.

[@nathanthomson1931]

Southgate's biggest failing this tournament was in not starting Gordon and Palmer. There you have two players with pace and creativity who are great at driving into the box and creating chances. He played Palmer as an impact sub and he created chances and important goals. He inexplicably refused to play Gordon though, and both should've been starting

[@jamesmclardy8636]

Nice to hear an honest, balanced view 👏👏👏👏

[@sterilefrogs]

Love to know your thoughts on why England are the biggest underachievers in world football (I'm English, BTW). Let me explain. Look at England's performance from the 1950 World Cup and after and you can see we've got an abysmal record. Just one final before Southgate. Ramsey's team of Charlton, Moore, Banks etc. couldn't get to the final of the Euros. The teams with Keegan, Barnes, Lineker, Owen, Gerrard, Rooney etc couldn’t get to a final. Look at the records of the big European countries where football is a big deal (France, Germany, Italy and Spain) and you'll see they get to finals again and again. There have been so many excuses over the years about tired players, WAGs, bad luck, bad refereeing but that can't explain 74 years of underachievement. You can see that Southgate has massively overachieved, so great credit to him. The only common thread I can see is the FA. I think the FA have changed over the last few years, but let's not forget that they did employ Allardyce.

[@John-yz8dp]

One indication of problems was the amount of times I saw Walker and Stones receive the ball, stop with their foot on it and then point in front if them. They had nobody to pass to in the middle, so had to go wide.

[@ComradeOgilvy1984]

That Southgate seemed to prefer to progress out of the back through the central channel was not the problem. The problem was that when the opposition figured that out and clogged the central channel, they played like they had no Plan B. The pushed the ball wide but usually lacked the conviction to get a third player over to form a passing triangle.

[@jameshart3869]

Fantastic input as always. Looking forward to the transfer looks and previews for the PL.

[@samirullah4701]

Excellent!

[@Hildreth1101]

"England were a team should be losing 4-3 rather than 1-0" I think you said it best there Adam, great analysis of the 2024 Euros. We were very poor/average in a lot of games, and we conceded first in least 4 or 5 games if I recall and in every single one we got an equaliser, and vs Spain it was the same - We were outplayed but as soon as we had no choice and had to get up the pitch and we left gaps, we had the quality to score goals. That sort of style would have been bad for us 4-6 years ago but with this current team it fits a lot, and I wish we'd just done that vs Spain. That being said we played very poor this Summer and got to Extra Time in the Final, despite playing a system that was not working, it speaks to the quality the players have and their desire to win. So we should be positive this team can win and compete for trophies for the foreseeable future which is really positive since we went a whole decade of not having that sort of team, and if there is one thing I will praise Southgate for is he gave us all hope again.

[@dicarpio2177]

To this day I still think croatias equaliser should have been disallowed for a high boot.

[@kevinstoneham1245]

Even before I watched this my recollection of the Croatia and Italy fame was that after we scored the opposition pressed high and we never then really had the ball. You have to give credit to the opposition. In some ways and I felt this in the recent Euros that we were better when we went 1-0, because then we were not being pressurised as much. Be able to play out from the back is a real problem for England when the opposition presses. However, we need to back ourselves or we will never break this shackle. Plenty of passing drills to achieve it I think. The only thing I would say about the France game is that they didn’t press. If they had they probably would have kept us out of the game. If we don’t have the type of player to help us break out of the defence, we need to train a couple up to be that.

[@Trewpr-bn6ry]

isn't Mainoo a player capable of receiving the ball in traffic and playing through the midfield?

[@johndeighan2495]

He has the skills for it but not the positional discipline IMO. Not yet, anyway. He tends to drift to where he thinks he can affect the game.

[@elthamo]

I generally appreciate your analysis, but sitting back when under more pressure was partly caused by having Kane on the pitch. That's when having a Watkins type as an out ball was needed. As you say, we didn't have that players in midfield to take the ball on the half turn and get up the pitch but now, in Mainoo, Bellingham, Foden, Palmer and Wharton we do have those players.

[@jackburton4302]

After the 22/23 season, I always thought Stones would play that kind of inverted full back / centre mid role for England, do you think this could solve some of England's issues with not having someone like Rodri Maybe having a midfield 3 of stones, Rice pressing forward like he does for arsenal and Bellingham playing in the centre. Do you think this could work and solve some issues?

[@jackmurray279]

Adam i absoloutley love your tactical analysis. As someone who hasnt really spent much time delving into the deeper tactics beyond formation, you helped more than I can explain with my ability to digest what I saw at the Euros. I would LOVE if you made any sort of video involving Preston North End? If you do, I will personally come up to the North East and take you out for a Greggs and a pint, on me ofc ;)

[@wmurray689]

ADAM WHARTON IS THE MAN!!!!!

[@gumdeo]

Southgate achieved so much that any future England manager will struggle too equal his accomplishments.

[@fedreccinnodante4799]

Only if they don't get Southgate's favourable draws.

[@averageperson8882]

Will always have respect for Southgate. People forget how truly awful England were between 2007 to 2016 and would’ve continued to be under Allardyce. Southgate and his staff made England a respected team (despite what all the England haters try and say) and serious title contenders. It’s clearly time for him to pass the baton to the next manager, but whoever takes over I hope understands all the positive work Southgate achieved and progresses it rather than tries to completely overhaul it. It’ll truly be a disaster if we ever progress backwards to the pre Southgate years.

[@TRWM735]

Its great watching your analysis as I feel like it cuts through the nonesense alot of people go on about. One thing I don't quite understand that well though is what happened between 2022-2024? You mention that there are now much better players on the team. What i don't get is why can't those attacking players play more like the creative players were up front in 2018?

[@liamo8932]

"I don't have a girlfriend, I have you lot!" 😂😂😅

[@FourFourTwo]

My mam keeps asking me when I'm getting married and I have to keep telling her I'm already married to the contnet.

[@ac1dP1nk]

Puts a bit of pressure on us as viewers

[@william54378]

Great video. All so very true and correct.

[@twiggle1982]

I find most of this quite contradictory. You set out by saying we cant say hes tactically inept because he managed to put together a solid set up in just 2 years. You called it outstanding or something along those lines. You then claimed that this was inevitable as England dont have a progressive midfielder. Firstly, I find it hard to agree that playing 6 defenders is an outstanding managerial achievement. Secondly, isnt this where a managers tactical acumen comes into play. You have your team set up solid. Your team are struggling to get possession and get out of their half. What do you do now. This is where a manager earns his stripes. You dont throw your hands up and say "oh its fine we dont have a ball playing centre mid". How about we put a wide player on who will run in behind to provide a threat. How about we play a system where we are the ones doing the pressing? I dont know. Im not a high level manager. And nor is Gareth. Its contradictory to then say its time for him to go after youve essentially just said that there is nothing that can be done. If the ball playing centre mid is such a problem then getting rid of Gareth wont solve that. If there is a way for us be successful without one then Gareth hasnt found it and has not being performing tactically. Which one is it?

[@silvesta5027]

20:10 Not having a world class defensive midfielder that is press resistant and can pass progressively has been England’s Achilles heel my entire lifetime. And when we do have a good player in that profile we don’t value them. I think the last time England had a player like that was Michael Carrick. And he was seemingly always sidelined for England sadly. I feel Adam Wharton could do it for England too, but he’s still young so we’ll have to see.

[@stevenmason3061]

is warton not the guy who can pass under pressure and play though the lines

[@jacobwhitcombeCNC]

He is the boy 💪

[@roccocammisola1733]

Maguire carrying the ball forward and unleashing a diagonal to Lingard/Alli/Trippier was England’s main route for progressing the ball in 2018. It’s such a shame the England dna project has ended up not creating any players in the middle of the park. Or has Ancelotti ruined England’s best chance of one by pushing Bellingham into a 9/10 role?

[@grantwarner9642]

I'd vote for you for next Manager.