After friendly wins against Austria and Romania, England turned a third consecutive 1-0 scoreline into three precious points in their opening game of UEFA EURO 2020. International football tournaments are a straightforward matter of results; Gareth Southgate and England can consider their Group D fixture against Croatia a job well done.
In a 24-team format, England are already on the brink of qualifying for the Second Round. There’s room to breathe – room, should it be needed, for error – and it’s in that context that questions over team selection, over substitutions, over system and shape, should be posed.
Beating Croatia was the be all and end all. Raheem Sterling, without a doubt one of the most frequently asked of those questions, scored the only goal of the game at Wembley to claim that win. Kalvin Phillips made the chance to cap off the fine individual performance around which England’s game plan was constructed.
Anchored by Declan Rice, Phillips played in a more advanced midfield position and put his all-round game on display. As adept in his passing as breaking up the visitors’ play, the Leeds United midfielder was the match’s outstanding player and the emblem of a clever tactical touch that shackled Luka Modric – unfair home advantage, Luka, or just outsmarted on the day? – and ensured that Croatia never laid a glove on England.
England didn’t dominate, nor were they especially dynamic, but they were composed and professional. Phillips wrote his own headlines but there was an equally positive showing from Tyrone Mings, who responded to a week being prepared as England’s latest scapegoat by putting in a spotless shift alongside John Stones in central defence.
Mings kept it simple on the ball, eschewing risky passes into the feet of England’s midfielders and looking instead for a safer option nearby or a longer route over the top for Sterling, presumably a tactical choice by Southgate and one that presented England with a chance from a free kick on the edge of the box when Sterling was fouled after being released by a Mings pass in behind.
The Villa defender gave his critics no momentary lapse upon which to hang their black hats. Instead, his nose for danger was there for all to see. Mings – as he did against both Austria and Romania, in spite of the mistakes that attracted an unwarranted level of negativity – covered Stones and left back Kieran Trippier with aplomb, made crucial blocks and interventions, and led a defence otherwise manned by 2020/21 title winners.
It was simplicity and solidity that won the day in a match of little incident. Phillips and Mings just did their jobs well for the whole game. Stones, similarly, didn’t put a foot wrong as England snuffed out any Croatian threat with ease. Along with Rice and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, the centre backs formed a robust defensive diamond, comfortable on the ball and defensively effective throughout.
Trippier’s selection at left back was roundly derided before the match, not least because Southgate had Ben Chilwell and Luke Shaw available; previously, Trippier’s England outings as a left wing back have been by necessity rather than choice. Though his natural inclination to look in-field and step in on his right foot was again prevalent, Trippier handled his business.
Indeed, it was at right back that England were arguably found wanting. Kyle Walker was among England’s least impressive players, in possession at least, and Phil Foden’s sporadic involvement was perhaps a symptom of that.
Walker’s Manchester City team-mate, bleached hair for the occasion, started brightly and hit the foot of Dominik Livakovic’s post in the very early minutes of the game, swinging a good effort beyond the goalkeeper after fine work in the right channel allowed him to cut onto his left foot.
Foden continued to look like a natural in an England shirt, as a player of his phenomenal quality is always likely to do, but the players around him were unable to get him on the ball enough for him to make a real impact on the match. Mason Mount was similarly unable to showcase the fullness of his ability despite his involvements being positive when they came along.
In short, England were competent enough to control the game almost entirely but by no means fluid going forward. Given the attacking talent Southgate has to choose from, it’s little wonder that even three points can leave room for debate among the nation’s football public.
Harry Kane and England’s use of him are starting to present Southgate with a riddle. The captain has thrived at club level when given licence to withdraw and help build the play, racking up assists and goals for Tottenham Hotspur and developing a particularly pleasing line in raking diagonal passes from midfield.
But this isn’t Tottenham Hotspur. England need a finisher in front of goal and open spaces in the middle of the park. That’s not to say Kane necessarily has to be the player between the posts or furthest up-field, but against Croatia his overall contribution wasn’t enough to justify his roaming. Likewise, the positioning of his colleagues wasn’t designed to accommodate it.
Nevertheless, calls for his exclusion are obviously premature. Other armchair analyses, though, deserve further exploration.
Foden was given a starting berth but England’s other attacking players were Kane, Sterling and substitute Marcus Rashford – as familiar a bunch as Southgate could hope to field, and none of them shone especially brightly on the day.
Sterling’s goalscoring record for England since the last World Cup is exceptional even if his recent club form hasn’t been up to his usual standards, and the run he made for yet another international goal was, of course, the game’s key moment. Yet, with other candidates waiting in the wings, the idea that Southgate is playing safe will prevail.
Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho was one of the three players who missed out on the matchday squad altogether but on recent club form one would expect him to be close to a start.
The clamour for Jack Grealish, meanwhile, grows louder by the day. It sometimes seems as if the only people who don’t want him to start matches at the European Championships are the ones making the decision.
He would have affected the opening game simply by carrying the ball through the lines, never mind tapping his ability to drive into the box and create in the attacking third. The time when England need him more than any other player will arrive sooner rather than later. Rashford will – or should – be at risk of dropping down the pecking order.
But these are matters to be resolved within the England camp because this is a summer tournament. It’s not the means, but the end. It’s not a time for sentiment or development or steady progress, but for winning games.
For the first time ever in the European Championships, England did that right out of the gate. Croatia were tame but England helped to tame them, and Southgate now takes his team into the Scotland game with three points already in his back pocket.
Calling it a perfect start to UEFA EURO 2020 would be a stretch, given the apparent weaknesses in the performance. Yet really, in the only way that truly matters in tournament football, it was exactly that.
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Chris Nee
@SphinxFtbl