Gareth Southgate has so often been accused of being too cautious throughout his time as England manager, but as his side began their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia, his team selection suggested that the shackles were off.
The Three Lions came into the tournament as favourites according to most media outlets, due to the wealth of attacking talent at their disposal. Southgate’s line up seemed to be designed to accommodate as many of them as possible, Premier League player of the year Phil Foden, Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham, and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka playing behind captain and all-time top-scorer Harry Kane, who himself topped the charts for most goals and assists in Europe’s top five leagues in his first season with Bayern Munich. There was also a place for Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield alongside Declan Rice. Crystal Palace captain Marc Guéhi would make his major tournament debut and was exceptionally composed in the left centre back role, in the absence of Harry Maguire, who misses EURO 2024 through injury.
Their opponents were a physical Serbia side. Dragan Stojković set his team up to be even more direct than usual. Captain Dušan Tadić, a technically gifted, intelligent, experienced attacking midfielder has over 100 caps for his country. But the 35-year-old was dropped to facilitate strike partnership of Juventus’ Dušan Vlahović and former Fulham talisman Aleksandar Mitrović. Two tall, aerially dominant targets for the crosses and long balls that would be played into Pickford's box.
England started well, controlling possession in the opening stages, Serbia having to resort to fouls to disrupt England’s flow on many occasions. But they couldn’t stop Bellingham. His shirt adorned with the number ten, reflective of the position in which he was playing, the 20-year-old had dropped deeper to get the ball. Just over the halfway line, Bellingham looked to his right and found Kyle Walker. The right back would play the ball down the line for Bukayo Saka, who sprinted to the byline, leaving his marker on the floor as he floated in a fine cross with his weaker right foot. Meanwhile, as he has done so often at the Bernabéu over the past year, Bellingham was making a perfectly timed run from deep to meet Saka’s cross six yards out with a bullet header into the top left corner. A chorus of ‘Hey Jude’ echoed around Arena AufSchalke (and, I’ll admit, my kitchen) as England fans celebrated another remarkable moment in the career of the Stourbridge-born midfielder who has become just the second player to score both at a World Cup and a European Championship before the age of 21.
The Three Lions continued to look extremely comfortable in their fluid shape; Saka getting in behind his marker again and again. Trent Alexander-Arnold would have a go from 30 yards in the nineteenth minute but failed to trouble Rajković. Moments later, a poor touch in England’s defensive third saw him gift the ball to Mitrović, but the Al-Hilal striker was uncharacteristically wasteful as he fired wide of Pickford’s left-hand post.
Kyle Walker would go close in the 26th minute, surging down the right on the overlap. Still possessing frightening pace at 34, the Manchester City captain played the ball across goal from seven yards out, but no one in a white shirt could turn it into the net.
As the first half came to a close, Serbia were growing into the game, John Stones doing well to deal with Saša Lukić’s awkward cross and put it behind for a corner.
Having had to replace left wingback Filip Kostić with Filip Mladenović due to injury minutes before the break, Stojković made a second change at half time. Nemanja Gudelj replaced by Ivan Ilić in the middle of the park.
Serbia switched changed their pressing in the second half to press England man-for-man, causing England to drop deep and invite pressure as their opponents gained a foothold in the game. Former Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinković-Savić (now a teammate of Mitrović in Saudi Arabia) became more involved. Before captain Tadić entered the fray just after the hour mark, looking to inspire his nation to an equaliser that had seemed unthinkable in the opening stages of the match.
Harry Kane had had a quiet night in front of goal but was presented with a golden opportunity to give England some breathing space with twelve minutes to play. Moments after replacing Bukayo Saka on the right wing, Jarrod Bowen would beat Mladenović and whip the ball to the back post. The England captain made great contact with the ball, but Rajković got a hand to it, turning the ball onto the bar before Pavlović cleared the danger with a sliced clearance.
For all their good work in the second half, Serbia didn’t manage to register a shot until Dušan Vlahović’s swerving effort from 25 yards in the 82nd minute. Thankfully for England, Jordan Pickford was alert and got a strong left hand to the ball to turn it behind.
Birmančević, Milinković-Savić and Ilić would all either see their efforts blocked, or off target in the closing stages, as England held on for all three points, which see them top of Group C after the draw between Slovenia and Denmark, whose captain Chrisitan Eriksen opened the scoring with a delightful half-volley, 1100 days after he had a cardiac arrest on the pitch in his side’s opening game of Euro 2020.
Analysis: Promising signs but lacking threat on the left.
In the first half of the game, England played at a level worthy of their favourites tag. Southgate was bold in his team selection, but had a plan for his side, who were fluid and hard working. England’s 4-2-3-1 shape out of possession, changed notably in possession throughout the first half. Kyle Walker generally stayed back to form a back three with John Stones and Marc Guéhi. Filling in for Luke Shaw at left back, Kieran Trippier, would advance down the flank aiming to offer width akin to that provided by winger Saka on the right. Rice and Alexander-Arnold would remain the deeper midfielders, with the latter roaming to wide positions at times to provide a passing option. Phil Foden played ahead of them alongside Bellingham, with Kane up top.
Jude Bellingham, playing in what is already his third major tournament, put in one of the best performances I’ve seen of an England player across a half. With seemingly boundless energy he was a threat in attacking the Serbian box and dropped deep into his own half to retrieve the ball. But he was anything but a headless chicken, showing his class everywhere on the pitch, be it his late run and header for the goal, or the Cruyff turn on the edge of his own box.
Harry Kane told the BBC in his post-match interview that he “stayed high” to occupy multiple Serbian defenders. This tactic was apparently to allow Foden and Bellingham pockets of space to play in. Kane expects to change, sometimes dropping deeper as he has done at times previously, depending on the opponent. The Bayern man had a quiet night in attack, with just a single touch in the opposition box, but allowed Bellingham to strut his stuff, and on another night, would have scored. Even as England lost control of the game in the second half, the skipper mucked in, heading away corners and winning the most duels of anyone on the pitch.
The big flaw in the shape England deployed, even in the first half, was a relative lack of threat from down the left. This was somewhat expected, with right back Trippier filling in for Luke Shaw, who wasn’t fit enough to start. The Newcastle man worked hard down the left flank, but it didn’t quite feel natural. Ahead of him, Phil Foden was quiet. He plays his best football in more central areas but has still done well for Manchester City when playing on the left and coming inside. It feels as though England need at least one natural left-sided player: Shaw’s return should help Foden and give him more license to come inside.
Regarding Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield, the jury is out. He displayed his exceptional range of passing, and looked composed in the opposition half but there were some defensively shaky moments, where his lack of top-level experience in the centre of the park showed – namely letting Mitrović in after 20 minutes. There are concerns that against the best teams, he could leave England exposed at the back, and against Serbia those weren’t necessarily eased. He’s a supremely talented player, though, and may just need a couple of games in the role.
These are things that England will examine in the coming days back at their base in Blankenhain. They will also surely look at why they failed to deal with Serbia’s switch to a man-for-man press. The ghosts of big games in which Southgate failed to deal with his opponent’s mid-game tactical changes spring to mind.
Most importantly though, England start with a win, something that only Southgate has done as manager. They now need to harness the positives of the first half hour or so against Serbia, and build on it ahead of Thursday, when they face Denmark in a repeat of the Euro 2020 semi-final.
Serbia (3-5-2): Rajković (GK); Milenković, Pavlović, Veljković; Živković (Birmančević 74’), S. Milinković-Savić, Gudelj (Ilić 46’), Lukić (Jović 61’), Kostić (Mladenović 43’); Vlahović, Mitrović (C) (Tadić 61’).
England (4-2-3-1): Pickford (GK); Walker, Stones, Guéhi, Trippier, Alexander-Arnold (Gallagher 69’), Rice, Saka (Bowen 76’), Bellingham (Mainoo 86’), Foden, Kane (C).
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