Jonathan Northcroft: England must turn from lambs back into Lions to make deep World Cup run

We also saw the very team who had run Cheshmi ragged in their previous match run suddenly out of urgency, energy and physical and mental gas.

England. What to make of it? The contrast in the performances of Gareth Southgate’s team between their games against Iran and the USA was jarring. “The English are like lions in the autumn but like lambs in the spring,” Michel Platini once said – but here we saw the lions of Monday become lambs as soon as Friday; baffling stuff.

The boos that boomed around the Al Bayt Stadium told what supporters thought and while theirs was an overreaction, you could not blame them for feeling pangs of alarm. Seasoned followers of Southgate’s England know that, in their worst moments, they are a team who can fall into a passive mode of playing – and passages during the game at Al Bayt reminded you of that bad England, the England who, after starting brightly, let Croatia take the initiative in a 2018 World Cup semi-final and the England who froze against Hungary’s counterattacking in miserable Nations League defeats in the summer.

The England described by Uefa’s technical report as having “retreated” after going ahead in the Euro 2020 final. Let’s keep some perspective: the display against the USA was less problematic than any of those, and the result did not hurt England. It’s more that it contained elements of what England need to avoid in their play, rather than it being dominated by them. “We didn’t quite have that bit of zip,” was Southgate’s conclusion. “We were just a little bit low on energy in one or two positions – but I’m not unhappy because I knew [the USA] were going to be a team where it would be difficult to get at their defence.”

England’s passive mode is when their movement of the ball slows, their lines get flat, rotation stops and there is an isolation of key players: the central midfielders, Harry Kane. It was there, versus the USA, from the opening moments, when England went for safe possession at the back. John Stones to Harry Maguire, Maguire back to Stones, Stones back to Maguire, the full backs and midfielders not really showing. The supposed lions, pussyfooting.

Passive mode tends to be triggered when England are overworried about the opposition, or protecting a scoreline, and in terms of the psychology of Friday’s game Southgate drummed into the team that the priority was not to lose; it could be that he overdid that message. “I said to them before the game, ‘There is a scenario here that we need to talk through,’ because three points and we near as damn it win the group, but the silver medal is one point, which puts us very close to qualifying, so we have to make sure we are savvy and we don’t throw the game away,” he revealed.

But passive play is not the football Southgate wants to coach. He is consistent in the messaging that England need to have pace in their game and be brave on and off the ball, and the 6-2 victory against Iran was a showcase – at least attacking-wise – of the style he wants. Forwards rotated positions with midfielders and full backs, Jude Bellingham broke lines with his running and Maguire broke lines by striding out in possession.

Against the USA, the only remainder of that style was Maguire – despite a fierce USA press – still bringing the ball out. Southgate cannot be solely blamed for the change: players should take significant responsibility too. Sometimes, in tough matches, it comes down to individuals’ ability to impose their character, and watching England at Al Bayt you were reminded that they are not a side stocked with forceful, demonstrative players.

The members of it with the most caps, Kane, Stones and Raheem Sterling, are not talkers, and other quiet types include Bukayo Saka and Luke Shaw. Even Declan Rice, a club captain, is one who leads more by example than the sharp word or spiky tackle, while Bellingham, for all his talent and personality, is still a young player learning how to navigate the hardest games.

Only Kieran Trippier, Maguire and Jordan Pickford were consistently trying to cajole players and it was no surprise that Southgate sent Jordan Henderson on for Bellingham for the last 25 minutes. Henderson, 32 and battle-worn, remains England’s biggest character on the pitch and Southgate explained, “We cannot roll Jude for 90 minutes every game. We have to look after him and Hendo has been training really well. Tactically, it was a complicated game in midfield and Jordan’s organisation and intelligence and experience at that moment was something we felt could help us.”

Henderson was the only player who was excused from training at Al Wakrah Sports Club yesterday (Saturday), as Southgate looked to manage his workload. The other substitutes trained and were joined by James Maddison, who completed a full session for the first time since arriving in Qatar.

Southgate and his assistants, Steve Holland and Paul Nevin, grinned and padded happily in the sunshine as England’s lead performance coach, Ben Rosenblatt, put players through their warm-up. Southgate seemed equally relaxed and sanguine in the immediate aftermath of Friday’s game, advising reporters to view England’s performance in the context of what is needed to progress from group B.

“The objective is to qualify,” he said. “You get three games to do it. We have been fortunate in the last two tournaments that we have done it after two. That is very unusual. I kind of know what will be going on [in terms of the reaction to England’s display], I know what the noise will be, but we crack on. I am really pleased with the players.”

Though Wales are likely to bring nothing-to-lose passion, it would take a calamity – losing by four goals – for England not to go through, and they still look the likeliest group winners. Hence Southgate’s mood.

“I am lucky, I am locked away in a hotel with no telly on,” he said. “I don’t need to see [the reaction] because I know what it will be. It is a deliberate disengagement, because if I listen to everything, I either go bonkers or you start to doubt yourself. We won’t get every single decision right and so if there is criticism of certain calls, so be it. But if you had said to me [before the tournament] four points from the two games, goal difference where it is [I would have been happy].

“I have come here to enjoy this tournament as much as I can and make sure that that is emitted to the players, because I think that gives us the best possible chance of doing well.

“I think we can continue to improve with each game in different areas. Here, we were better defensively than we were [against Iran] but did not have quite the same attacking zip. If we can put all those things together, then we have got a really strong team.”

Southgate was correct to pay tribute to the USA’s intensity, athleticism and quality pressing. He was right to recall England’s 0-0 against Scotland at the Euros, and how it proved just a blip. He suggested there may be a few changes against Wales – he surely needs to get Kalvin Phillips back on the pitch and, if his recovery from a knee knock continues to go well, give Maddison a cameo.

Bellingham should stay in – he is already one of England’s best players – and thought should be given to managing Kane’s minutes.

But the change screaming out most to be made is bringing Phil Foden into the XI. Foden is England’s best technician, their most flexible attacker, and passes and moves with a deftness and speed that would refresh the attacking game. Putting him in would be a positive act, and perhaps ensure the lapse back into passive mode was only temporary.

– The Sunday Times

Originally published as Jonathan Northcroft: England must turn from lambs back into Lions to make deep World Cup run