Well, England couldn’t quite get away with it.
For the fourth successive knockout game, it fell behind a goal, and it yet again pulled level. But the familiar England trope cost it the European Championship final. “We didn’t keep the ball well enough,” lamented Gareth Southgate in the aftermath of another painful night.
When Spain scored in the second minute of the second half, it prompted England to step up and play. Spain sat back too, hoping to utilise its pace on the break. England outpassed Spain 120-115 (51% possession compared to its 35% overall) from the time it conceded until the 73 rd when Cole Palmer scored a superb equaliser. But England had sacrificed its structure in search of that goal.
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Then it predictably sat back and allowed Spain to come at it again. For the next 13 minutes, Spain showed why it is the OG pass master by racking up 106 passes to England’s 28 as the latter repeatedly tried to launch it long to only give the ball back. Declan Rice and Phil Foden, who slotted alongside him in central midfield, had a combined five passes between them during this spell. Spain, eventually, scored the goal to make it 2-1 to win its fourth title.
England, which had an average possession of 58 per cent in the tournament until the final, dropped it down to 35% in the final. The loss of control has been a familiar theme for England under Southgate in knockout matches of major tournaments. Against Croatia in the 2018 World Cup semifinal, England’s possession was 44.5%, against Italy in the 2020 Euro final, it was down to 34.6% and against the Netherlands in the 2019 Nations League semifinal, the possession was 46.8%. In all these games, England scored early and looked to defend its lead or play on the counter, but tasted defeats.
Only in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinal against France did England see more of the ball (57.2%) in a game where it was chasing for major parts of the game. It’s not that England’s passive approach is bound to spell doom.
France under Didier Deschamps, who Southgate says he has been influenced by, has done it successfully. In the 2018 World Cup triumph, France’s possession count in the four knockout games read: 39% (Argentina), 62% (Uruguay), 36% (Belgium) and 34% (Croatia). Argentina under Lionel Scaloni, too, has done it successfully. In the 2022 World Cup, its possession spell read: 61% (Australia), 48% (Netherlands), 39% (Croatia) and 54% (France).
But what sets these teams apart from England is the superior quality in midfield roles to provide control in games and also a threatening outlet on the break to keep the opposition on its toes. France had Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Blaise Matuidi in the middle, while Argentina had Rodrigo de Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez and also Lionel Messi dropping deeper. These two respective midfield forces complement their partners well and could operate in deep-lying areas with the ball under pressure.
England’s midfield in these four tournaments were: Jordan Henderson-Dele Alli-Jesse Lingard (2018), Declan Rice-Kalvin Phillips (2021), Henderson-Rice-Jude Bellingham (2022) and Rice-Kobbie Mainoo (2024). None of these midfield axis provide the necessary control for England against teams whose technical quality is better than the Three Lions.
England’s Declan Rice, left, challenges for the ball with Spain’s Fabian Ruiz during the final match between Spain and England at the Euro 2024 final in Berlin. | Photo Credit: AP
Rice has several strong attributes to his game and is important for England with his off-the-ball work, but his ball-playing abilities under pressure don’t inspire confidence. Southgate’s fixation on the Phillips/Henderson-Rice midfield pivot in the last couple of years meant he didn’t look to blood in other midfield options earlier.
But, England is also not blessed with deep-lying midfield options coming through to the highest level. Mainoo broke through with Manchester United in December last year, while Adam Wharton, an unused substitute at the Euros, made the jump up to the Premier League in February this year. Conor Gallagher has an immense work-rate but isn’t comfortable on the ball. Southgate’s desperate attempt to convert full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold into a midfielder was unsuccessful.
Inspired by the Clairefontaine project in France, which led to the 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euro success, the Football Association (FA) set up the St George’s Park National Football Centre in 2012 in the hope of developing its next generation of England footballers, who have a higher technical sealing.
In recent years, England has produced a wealth of attacking midfielders, but there is a dearth of deep-lying midfielders playing at the highest level. Other than Wharton, Bournemouth’s Lewis Cook is the other notable name among this breed. Since 2011, Cook has been part of six different age groups for England but has only one senior national cap, coming in 2018. Ross Barkley is another player who can fit the mould after his revival with Luton Town, but he hasn’t played for England since 2019.
England might pluck its way through to few knockout games yet again, but unless it can find a player or two, who can take care of the ball under all situations, it might be faced with a familiar fate.
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