It’s got to the point now where no team that England come up against at the Euros will expect to dominate possession. Whether or not you think England are favourites, they are probably now Europe’s most prominent ‘possession’ side. That’s great — but this isn’t Manchester City. Here’s why controlling matches could detract from what England want to do.

There was a time, shortly after the 2018 World Cup, when Gareth Southgate changed England from a 3-5-2 team to a dangerous, counter-attacking 4-3-3 outfit. England tore defences to shreds for over a year with Harry Kane dropping in and Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford darting in behind defences. 

Many England fans who’ve just watched them lose to Brazil and narrowly escape defeat to Belgium might be saying, ‘Just start doing that again, then’. It’s not so simple. Why were England so unforgiving on the counter-attack? Well, because they soaked up pressure, won the ball, and made a run for it. 

Every team England face now constantly drops deeper and deeper from the front, trying to camp behind the ball. This means no matter how close England get to the opposition goal, there are usually still 10 or 11 players to beat. That’s making England quite slow. 

What do you do to solve it? Kobbie Mainoo, no? A breath of fresh air, in the second half against Belgium, Mainoo drove forward with the ball, made runs off the ball, and fed penetrative passes through an athletic Belgian midfield. When it worked, Bellingham and Foden turned and charged forward. Great! Attacking intent. 

The issue with that is those passes are risky by nature. That’s why people love to see them. It’s impressive when they come off. England, and even Mainoo, were guilty of misplacing a fair number as well. They lost the ball and suddenly had to deal with a counter-attack. 

All possession teams have to face counters, but England were specifically fielding a more adventurous midfield partner to Declan Rice in Mainoo, so the setup for dealing with counter-attacks was simply not there. 

Rest defence is a term that’s doing the rounds at the moment, and England — just like any other team — need to overload back-four systems with a front five, leaving five in the rest defence. Against Belgium, England had four. Rice in front of a back three was insufficient to combat organised counter-attacks. 

At the Euros, England will need a double-pivot that can play dangerous passes from deeper and occasionally try to play more directly — without needing to tiki-taka pass the ball into the net.