Serbia – England: Three Lions Limp To Opening Win (0-1)
England made a promising start with a fluid possession system and an early goal from Jude Bellingham. However, they lost initiative as the game went on, with small flaws in their system becoming apparent. They ended up putting in an underwhelming performance to grind out a win in a game with few chances.
This tactical preview has been written by Josh Manley.
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England faced Serbia in their first game at EURO 2024. The Three Lions have traditionally had a bad record in opening games, with their win over Croatia in EURO 2020 being the first time they had ever won their opening game at a European Championship.
Gareth Southgate’s side lined up in a 4-3-3 shape here, with a back four of Kyle Walker, John Stones, Marc Guéhi, and Kieran Trippier. Declan Rice was the deepest midfielder, while Jude Bellingham played slightly ahead of Trent-Alexander Arnold. The front three consisted of Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane, and Phil Foden.
Serbia started in a 3-4-3 system under Dragan Stojković, with a back three of Miloš Veljković, Nikola Milenković, and Strahinja Pavlović. Andrija Živković and Filip Kostić were the wing-backs, while Saša Lukić and Nemanja Gudelj partnered in central midfield. Dušan Vlahović, Aleksandar Mitrović, and Sergej Milinković-Savić were the forward trio.
Bellingham strikes early
England were able to take the lead within fifteen minutes thanks to Bellingham’s header as he arrived in the box with perfect timing. This promised to be the start of a dominant performance for England, but standards would drop soon after this.
The main question for Southgate’s team selection prior to the tournament was around who would complete the midfield alongside Rice and Bellingham. In this game, Alexander-Arnold’s passing range and crossing ability was Southgate’s weapon of choice.
Alexander-Arnold played a fairly flexible role in the right halfspace for England, able to drop alongside Rice in the buildup, play behind the opposition midfield line, or even go out to the wing and allow Saka to drift inside.
One variation of England’s possession shape with Rice, Alexander-Arnold, Foden, and Bellingham in a midfield diamond.
The right side of the pitch was England’s most productive, especially in the first half. Walker would usually stay deep and form a back three with Stones and Guéhi, while Saka would hold the width on the right wing.
Saka was able to outplay Kostić and Pavlović in the first half with his dribbles and off-the-ball movement, which led to England’s most promising attacks, including the goal where it was Saka who crossed the ball for Bellingham.
Elsewhere, Bellingham and Foden had a lot of freedom to roam between the lines for England, mostly in the center and left halfspace respectively. The two main structures that England ended up falling into were a 3-2-4-1 shape with Alexander-Arnold alongside Rice, or a 3-4-3 diamond shape with Alexander-Arnold and Foden as number eights and Bellingham as number ten.
Foden unfortunately struggled to integrate himself productively in his left halfspace role. He often found himself dropping off deeper alongside Rice to get touches of the ball, and his contributions overall were lacklustre.
Trippier was relied upon to provide the width on the left side, which did not come naturally to him, and the lack of a credible threat to stretch the Serbia defense in width and depth on the left probably did not help Foden’s prospects in the left halfspace either. Trippier did as well as could reasonably be expected in the circumstances of playing out of his natural position, but if Shaw is unable to get fit, this may not be the last time England’s left side is a problem in this system.
Serbia gain momentum
England had started the game in dominant fashion, controlling possession against a deep 5-4-1 formation from Serbia. However, England’s dominance waned as the first half progressed, and Serbia showed signs of taking the initiative in the match.
This trend strengthened in the second half, much of which was played in England’s territory as they became more passive. England were defending in a 4-1-4-1 mid-block, which started to drop lower as the game went on.
Serbia’s main threat was from longer passes into the frontline or crosses. With this in mind, one might come up with the plan of defending higher in order to prevent having to defend frequent crosses into the box, and avoid the complication of second balls close to one’s own goal against a tall and physical team such as Serbia. However, England did not really take this approach, and therefore ended up in slight discomfort in the latter stages of the game.
England seemed content to sit back in a 4-1-4-1 shape in the second half.
Serbia made changes around the hour mark, bringing Dušan Tadić and Luka Jović on for Mitrović and Lukić. Southgate made his first substitute around ten minutes later, bringing Conor Gallagher on for Alexander-Arnold in an attempt to add some energy to the midfield. This worked to some extent, with Gallagher closing down well and showing some tenacity.
England mostly relied on long balls to play over a higher Serbia press in the second half. Serbia were usually pressing in a 3-4-1-2 shape in order to man-mark England’s closest options when Pickford had the ball.
Kane’s target-man play was critical for England here, since most passes went towards him and he had to battle with Serbia’s physical center-backs. England’s captain did an excellent job in many of these situations, often winning free-kicks for England to take the pressure off.
Although the momentum in the game was with Serbia, they still only managed two shots in the second half, as they lacked the guile to break England down and England’s defensive line did a good enough job in the air against Serbia’s crosses. Despite a very unspectacular performance, England were ultimately able to secure a 1-0 win.
Takeaways
Serbia looked like they would be outclassed in the opening stages, but got themselves back into the game and posed some problems for England. Their high press in the second half helped them get more control of the game, but they did not have the creativity in attack to make it count.
England looked like they might dominate this game after the early stages, but they became more reserved as the game went on as they ceded territory to Serbia. The fluid system shown in possession contained some interesting positional ideas, but the left side of the pitch needs some work, with Trippier and Foden struggling to affect the attack to their full potential.
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