sport news England fans hoping for free-flowing attack can expect Gareth Southgate to pull ... trends now
Those hoping England’s dismal summer will prompt a change of approach from Gareth Southgate are likely to be left disappointed.
The stigma of being a defensive coach is one the England manager is struggling to shift. There is logic to the idea that the national team would benefit from Southgate releasing the handbrake a little, although the decision to employ a more attacking style against Hungary backfired spectacularly on Tuesday night.
It remains to be seen exactly how Southgate will react to the 4-0 loss at Molineux — a humiliating result that capped a miserable 10 days as England failed to win or score a goal from open play in four Nations League fixtures.
Jude Bellingham is one man many England fans want to start regularly in midfield
Mason Mount is one of Southgate's trusted favourites and is a hard worker
The smart money, however, is on Southgate doubling down on his ‘safe-not-sorry’ style.
‘There is a big desire to see open play but we saw against Hungary that you have got to have the balance of a team right,’ explained Southgate. ‘You have got to get those decisions right.
‘With a club, maybe if you are at the top and you have got a long time working with the players, you can play a more expansive game.
‘But even the top teams, they are so good defensively, they are good on transition, the balance of everything is right. So the idea that we can just play lots of attacking players and rely on talent to win matches, it is not the way it is.
‘And, you know, that was a reminder to myself against Hungary in the second half that it is a gamble. You go for a gamble to try to win the game because you think that is important. But what happened can happen.’
Gareth Southgate has stuck with a conservative approach that has served him well generally
The midfield duo of Kalvin Phillips (left) and Declan Rice (right) can be seen as negative
All of which points to Southgate starting with two holding midfielders in Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips in Qatar, a scenario which will frustrate many who believe the attack-minded Jude Bellingham should be in the starting XI.
It means Southgate will probably prefer Kyle Walker’s physicality
