England – Slovakia: Bellingham Spares England Blushes (2-1 A.E.T.)

England deservedly went behind in the first half against a proactive Slovakia team. The Three Lions continued to show weak possession play throughout the game, with no clear plan. An overhead kick from Jude Bellingham saved the day though, and they were able to secure the win in extra-time.

This tactical preview has been written by Josh Manley.

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England reached the EURO 2024 Round of Sixteen without playing particularly well in any of their group games. Slovakia meanwhile managed an upset against Belgium in their opening game and showed a willingness to play with bravery in their strategic approach.

Gareth Southgate made one personnel change from the team that faced Slovenia. Kobbie Mainoo was given a start in midfield after a good cameo last time out, as Conor Gallagher dropped to the bench. England lined up in a 4-2-3-1 shape, with a back four of Kyle Walker, John Stones, Marc Guéhi, and Kieran Trippier. Mainoo and Declan Rice were the double-pivot in midfield, with Jude Bellingham at number ten. Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden then flanked Harry Kane up front.

Slovakia meanwhile lined up in their 4-3-3 system under Francesco Calzona. Peter Pekarík, Denis Vavro, Milan Škriniar, and Dávid Hancko made up the back four, while the midfield trio comprised of Stanislav Lobotka, Juraj Kucka, and Ondrej Duda. Up front, Ivan Schranz and Lukáš Haraslín played either side of David Strelec.

Slovakia’s deserved lead

Calzona’s team have shown an ability to play excellent possession football in this tournament. However, in this game they played mostly on the counter-attack as England monopolized possession of the ball. Slovakia were still very competent here though, and their pressing and transition football earned them the opening goal midway through the first half.

Slovakia started from a 4-3-3 shape, but often transformed into a 4-4-2 formation during pressing. This was achieved through the pushing up of Duda from left central midfield to a striker position alongside Strelec.

Slovakia 🇸🇰 a great indication of how much stronger lower ranked nations are in competitions now.

Teams figured out they could press England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pretty early in the group stages and Slovakia’s medium block caused a lot of problems to their unstructured buildup. pic.twitter.com/1WEakYpu2k

— Joel Parker (@Joelazzo) June 30, 2024

With Duda and Strelec pressuring the center-backs and using their cover shadows to disrupt the passing lanes into England’s double-pivot, Slovakia were able to make England look very troubled in possession, with no clear plan of how to move the ball forward.

England’s defensive line also looked quite shaky against Slovakia’s transition attacks throughout the first half, with nervous defending on an individual and group level. Slovakia’s eventual goal was not the first time they had opened England’s defensive unit up.

England’s possession problems

In the previous game, Southgate made a switch to a 4-3-3 system which offered England some subtle improvements in their possession game, although still without a cutting edge in attack. In this game though, Southgate abandoned the 4-3-3 system again, in order to return to the problematic 4-2-3-1 system used against Denmark.

This system could sometimes shift into a 3-2-4-1 shape when England had the ball, as Walker could tuck in as third center-back, and Trippier would move up on the left. Foden indented, playing as a number ten alongside Bellingham.

This structure in itself is largely fine. After all, a 3-2-4-1 shape has been one of the more trendy attacking approaches in elite football in recent years. However, what matters is the execution in terms of movement and decision making, and that is where England fell down.

England looked bereft of ideas in these situations.

England once again had issues with a lack of movement into depth with most of the players in attacking areas preferring the ball to feet. The movements generally in attack were poor. As has been the case all tournament, there is a clear lack of ideas of how to construct attacking moves and progress the ball. Much of the play is improvised, with no pre-planned passing circuits or off-the-ball movements to fall back on.

Much of the decision making on the ball was extremely cautious too, with players rarely willing to fire risky passes between the lines when it seemed possible. This led to a lot of u-shaped circulation for England, which Slovakia found easy to defend when they dropped deeper in a 4-5-1 defensive shape.

Bellingham saves the day

As England continued to look incredibly sterile in possession, the need for changes became apparent. The first of Southgate’s changes was forced with less than thirty minutes remaining, as Trippier picked up an injury and was replaced by Cole Palmer, meaning a switch to left back for Saka.

Southgate was slow to make further changes as England continued to struggle. There was a slight tactical shift in the second half, as Walker began to move further up the right wing, while Mainoo and Rice increasingly drifted wider and deeper alongside the center-backs in order to get on the ball.

England’s fundamental problems did not change though. Despite this, it took Southgate into the final ten minutes until he decided to make another substitution. This time, Eberechi Eze replaced Mainoo, who had been one of England’s more impressive players with some classy moments on the ball.

Do UUUU care about ball progression!?#ENGSVK | #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/pek8JEzCo2

— Between The Posts (@BetweenThePosts) June 30, 2024

England now essentially played in a 3-5-2 shape in possession, with Walker alongside the center-backs and Rice at number six. Palmer and Saka were wide, while Foden and Eze were advanced number eights. Bellingham then supported Kane up front.

Southgate’s final throw of the dice happened in stoppage time, as he introduced Ivan Toney for Foden. Within a couple of minutes, England finally found their equazlier, as a long throw into the box led to Bellingham’s heroic overhead kick finding the net, bringing the game to extra-time.

It was no surprise that England’s eventual goal came from a set-piece, as these had pretty much been England’s only serious threat all game. This was shown once again early on in extra-time, as England went ahead through Kane’s header.

Southgate used his last two substitutes after this to reinforce defensively, as Erzri Konsa and Gallagher were introduced in place of Bellingham and Kane. England saw the rest of the game out defending in a 5-4-1 shape with Konsa at left wing-back and Saka as right wing-back. Gallagher slotted in alongside Rice in central midfield, while Eze and Palmer were the wide midfielders. England still had a couple of nervous moments at the back with Slovakia’s crosses into the box but were ultimately able to escape with the win.

Takeaways

England once again disappointed, and probably deserved to be eliminated based on the quality of their play. However, a moment of individual brilliance from Bellingham saved them, and they will now face Switzerland in the next round. The lack of clear attacking plan continues to be a problem, and Southgate needs to get creative if England are to progress further. England also showed a worrying defensive vulnerability for the first time in this tournament, and cannot afford to show the same against Switzerland who have been dangerous going forward in recent matches. 

Slovakia gave a great account of themselves in this tournament, with a well-executed 4-3-3 system showing high pressing, good possession play, and counter-attacks. Several players put in impressive performances, none more so than Lobotka who was a true linchpin in central midfield. They were ultimately unlucky not to advance to the next round.

We decided to make all of our EURO 2024 articles free to read. If you want to support our work, consider taking a subscription.

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