For a manager normally so good at finding the right words, some of Gareth Southgate’s comments in the San Siro raised more eyebrows than the defeat. The England football team manager kept repeating that the performance in the drab 1-0 loss to Italy football team was a “step in the right direction”.
“It’s difficult for me to be too critical,” Southgate had said. “More possession, more shots, more shots on target.”
Southgate went on to speak about “good moments” and “fine margins”, as if this was genuinely a cohesive display with just a few elements missing.
It’s fair to say that wasn’t the general analysis. Far from a team off on the fine details, England instead look like one now enduring a series of substantial problems. So much look wrong, from the formation to the very connection between the players.
It was difficult to see where these good moments Southgate spoke of came from. It was difficult to remember a proper chance from play.
That makes it even harder to understand Southgate’s comments, but perhaps that’s part of the point.
Maybe he was finding the right words – but this time for his players, rather than the general public.
One fair reading of Southgate’s curious interpretation of the game is that he is trying to ensure the players stay focused, that they don’t get affected by any talk of a crisis.
That was hinted in how he spoke of the need for players to ignore “the noise”, to “not get distracted”.
Southgate’s comments are much more understandable in that context, as he tries to keep the players on course. Imagine, for example, he had admitted that this is a concern. That would have really created a crisis.
The issue, if that is indeed the case, is that focus and mood are really dictated by performance and this just didn’t match up to what the manager said.
There were literally issues right through the team.
The formation continues to be a problem, radiating caution rather than the kind of attacking adventure that really defines this squad.
In that, it is reminiscent of Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur in that it looks a set-up built towards its weaker players rather than its best.
Southgate could fairly argue there that it’s much more difficult to front-load your team when you don’t have defensive players of the requisite quality to anchor it, but some of that comes down to the quality of coaching; to the manner you use the ball.
Italy’s Giacomo Raspadori scored the winner
Comparisons with Graham Potter’s Brighton, as a pointed example, will no doubt be made.
And, sure, it could be added that international managers just don’t get that time with their squads.
But the main issue is that Southgate has had a lot of time with this group, who represent a generation of attacking talent. Despite that, and at least three years working with most of them, the attacking approach hasn’t actually progressed in any way.
It has actually regressed.
England sputtered in Milan
