How can England sneak past the giant protecting the door
Tuesday night, England finally broke their duck and won a penalty shootout after a feisty 120 minutes against Colombia, Pekerman’s changes in formation gave the English team a headache, especially the switch to 3–5–2 which allowed Mojica to push forward, and through his crosses the Colombians were close to equalize and then lead.
England’s next opponents are Sweden, managed by Janne Andersson they topped their group which included Germany, Mexico, and South Korea, then beaten Switzerland in the round of 16. Their 4–4–2 setup was ever-constant in all 4 games, and despite England fielding a back three it’s highly unlikely that Janne Andersson will alter his formation.
Sweden setup is likely to be similar to the one against Italy in the World Cup playoff, as Italy’s 3–5–2 is quite close to England’s own version albeit Lingard and Alli providing more forward runs and goal threat than Parolo and Florenzi. The Swedish team would press positively earlier with Forsberg supporting the forwards, while the rest of the team keeping vertical compactness, but as the game proceeds with England hypothetically having the greater share of possession, the Swedes would retreat into a lower compact block. Toivonen and Berg would glady leave possession for the English back three, however they would position themselves to prevent passes into Henderson, with Larsson on Henderson’s heels if a pass goes through. Meanwhile on the flanks, Forsberg and Cleasson would contain the full backs with the support of Augustinsson and Krafth respectively, Ekdal and Larsson would cover the channels to prevent any runs from the opposition midfield.
Against Sweden, England will face their toughest offensive task, as they would require accurate and fast execution to bypass this giant protecting the doors. As strong as this giant is, it has some weak spots, when the ball is on the opposite wing, Forsberg/Cleasson tend to tuck in to provide horizontal compactness with Augustinsson/Krafth paralleling the same movement, this would in theory provide time and space for the wing back on the opposite side of the build up, and with a well executed diagonal ball the wing back can provide a cross for the forwards and on rushing midfielders.
Here Draxler chose to play a through ball for Hector rather than a diagonal ball for Kimmich who was wide open. Theoretically, England can create a chance through a diagonal ball from Maguire towards Trippier, keeping in mind that Ashley Young a right footed wing back on the left side would need to adjust the ball on his right foot, which would lessen the time he has before the press comes in. Danny Rose a left footed wing back with fast paced low crosses could be an option instead of Young
Gareth Southgate’s choice of ball playing center backs could be needed on Saturday as with Henderson probably in the cover shadow of both strikers, the back three would need to dictate play and provide splitting passes into Kane and Sterling who have performed brilliantly in terms of dropping to provide a passing option, but they drop too deep away from danger and any progressive passing option.
Another option for Southgate would be to try to free Henderson from the box, by progressing the ball through Walker, with Trippier closing on the ball to attract Forsberg and Augustinsson. Meanwhile Lingard would deploy a decoy run to break the box by moving Ekdal out of his starting position. Thus providing Henderson with an option to position in the right channel with less pressure
In the game at the San Siro, Bonucci was in constant search of a passing option and only Gabbiadini provided it, but failed in terms of controlling the ball and progressing.
Italy managed to free Jorginho from the box, and his defence splitting pass for Immobile was the game’s major chance, however the Lazio striker failed to score. The Italy game could provide a blueprint for Southgate in terms of ideas, however far better execution is required.
Janne Andersson’s Sweden shows the epitome of hard work and organization, a cohesive, compact side which is hard to break down, and if they managed to reach the semis, they would write their names in the history books. As for England to continue their World Cup dream they need to have a strong offensive game-plan along with their set piece prowess.
