GARETH SOUTHGATE is under no illusions coming into this competition – it is win or bust.
The Three Lions have never had a better opportunity to end their 58-year wait for a major international trophy given the talent and experience they have in their armoury.
Yet with the tag as tournament favourites, the Euro 2020 finalists arrive in Germany off the back of some mixed form that will concern Southgate.
With that comes selection headaches aplenty and big positional decisions to be made with the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham.
The pressure is on, and if not now, then when?
Manager: Gareth Southgate
The former Crystal Palace and Aston Villa defender has been England manager for eight years, and has come closer to any of his recent predecessors to finally ending the trophy drought.
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Southgate was appointed interim manager of the senior side in September 2016 to replace Sam Allardyce, who resigned from the job after only 67 days in charge.
Since then he has led England to fourth place at the 2018 World Cup, quarter finals of the 2022 World Cup, and losing the final Euro 2022 to Italy on a penalty shoot-out.
And this could be his last hurrah, as his existing contract expires at the end of this year.
And Southgate has paused any fresh discussions with the FA about a deal that would take him to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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After his penalty miss in Euro ’96 and agonising defeat in the final on penalties last time out, surely his Euro luck must change.
Key Man: Jude Bellingham
Arguably the best player on the planet right now.
His world class performances at Real Madrid give England the perfect platform to dominate big games.
Likely line-up
Southgate doesn’t experiment much, so the team is certain to play 4-2-3-1, with many of the players locked in.
The only real doubts are who plays at left-back, where Luke Shaw will play if fit or if not it will probably be Kieran Trippier.
And alongside Declan Rice in midfield where Kobbie Mainoo and Trent Alexander-Arnold will be the main contenders, along with Conor Gallagher.
Much will depend on just how daring Southgate decides to be.
How they attack
From an attacking perspective we expect to see England dominate the ball this summer against almost every opponent.
The move from Gareth Southgate to leave the likes of Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips out of the squad and to include the excellent Kobbie Mainoo will help England to dominate and control games.
With this combined with the likes of Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden moving from the wings into the channels and central spaces will create a lot of threat for opposition teams.
Declan Rice plays a key role centrally to progress the ball and moving the game forward.
England are dangerous around the opposition area with clever movement from their attacking wide areas combined with composure and creativity.
Saka and Foden will rotate and combine with Jude Bellingham in central spaces to drag defenders out of position consistently.
Harry Kane is dangerous when dropping deep to create and England like to make runs to create space around the final third.
The big question in this England squad still surrounds who will play left-back.
As Foden is likely to start on the left and come inside, Southgate will need someone to push forward to provide width on that side, as we get from Kyle Walker on the right.
In deeper positions the likes of Declan Rice will progress the ball centrally but the movement of the wide attackers, who come inside to receive in pockets of space, is key in allowing this to happen.
The key attacking focus will, of course, still be Kane leading the line.
But he will be supported by key attacking players with plenty of creativity and flair.
How they defend
As England are generally possession dominant in the vast majority of the matches that they play their defensive style has had to evolve to match.
Typically, we see the English team under Southgate defend in a varied manner.
Kane is a striker who can press and work in isolation against the ball and he will work on his own to slow and disrupt the opposition build up while allowing his team-mates to drop into a slightly deeper block.
As soon as there is a trigger out of possession for England then they will push players to press to support Kane.
As soon, however, there is a trigger with an opposition player taking a poor touch or with the ball being passed backwards then we see England trigger to press more aggressively.
The No 10 and the wide players quickly run high and the central midfielders get tight to their opponents to pin them back.
When England move to defend in this manner then they will work in a man-to-man way as they apply pressure to the opposition.
The aim simple – to regain the ball as close to the opposition goal as possible… and as far away from their own.
There are questions around England defensively, especially on the left-side of the defence, so the Three Lions will look to defend as high as possible to keep the pressure off their defence.
Prediction
England are firm favourites to top the table after their very friendly draw, and would be set to play the best third placed team from Group D/E/F.
SunSport reckon that it could be one of Austria, Czech Republic or Slovakia.
Progressing from the last 16 would set up a predicted tie against Italy in the quarter-final on July 6.
The game would be a rematch of the Euro 2020 final, which the Italians won on penalties.
England could then play France in the semi-final, giving Harry Kane a chance to get revenge on Les Bleus after his missed penalty in the 2022 World Cup quarter-final.
In the final, the likes of Germany, Spain, Portugal could be the opponents.
England will do well to equal their run to the final of Euro 2020
Latest odds
England are leading contenders to win this summer‘s competition in Germany with William Hill pricing them as 3/1 favourites.
Glam Wags
Since Colleen and Posh took Baden-Baden by storm in 2006, England’s Wags have made sure they don’t miss out on the Euros.
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And today is no different – with boss Southgate encouraging the player’s wives and girlfriends to accompany them on major tournaments.
But, with the Three Lions blessed with a lot of new talent in their squad, there will be plenty of newbies expected to travel to Germany this summer.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
