Southgate cannot coach or entertain any kind of intricacy, and more than ever, this collective need it to thrive. The interplay is shocking and Southgate exacerbates that by fielding the most disconnective midfield possible; further compounding it, and showing his lack of understanding of what this collective needs, with another midfielder who has absolutely no connective tissue to his game. It makes the midfield disjointed and incapable of playing very simple, fundamental combination passes between themselves - absolutely no triangulation, which induces panic that in turn lends itself to hoofball.
Wharton or Mainoo need to go into that midfield as a first point of order, after that, Southgate needs someone who he can instruct with his simple tactics, as he has no clue how to use the likes of Foden. If not Rashford, he needed to bring along someone who does well on tracks as an individual who doesn't need multiple passes to and forth to get into the game. Eze and Gordon really should see solid game time beings as they are maverick enough to be able to influence games with direct running.
Southgate is also so timid that he will always cower when the game gets testy rather than impose control and pressure. England's defensive quality is not good enough to withstand that. Just a shambles - it'll take individual brilliance to carry England far, the kind of quality that wins games in spite of Southgate.
classic Southgate.
