It shouldn’t be underestimated how significant an impact Gareth Southgate’s had on changing the identity of this England team.
While pretty much all of the Three Lions’ incarnations since the 1990s have boasted impressive solidity in defence, that’s often come at the expense of inventiveness and mobility going forward. There have been countless England performances, especially at international tournaments, where the national side has held strong but found themselves continually pushed back into their own half without any dependable means of breaking.
But Southgate’s latest selections for the friendlies against the Netherlands and Italy have highlighted the changing dynamics of the team. With full-backs employed in a three-man defence and two offensive-minded midfielders used behind two forwards, this England side is excitingly quick and usefully versatile – allowing them to launch counter-attacks from pretty much all departments and creating a far more fluid, nomadic feel to the attack.
And few players within the England setup epitomise that in quite the same way as Raheem Sterling. Usually a wide forward for Manchester City, Southgate has used the 23-year-old as a second striker, giving him the freedom to occupy space where ever he finds it while helping to switch England between a 3-5-2 and a 3-4-3, with either Jesse Lingard or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain moving forward from the engine room to become the third man in attack.
More crucially, the role appears to be getting the best out of a player who has often struggled to truly play his best football within the frame of the England team.
Indeed, although it’s still some time since Sterling found his last goal for the Three Lions, he was a crucial presence in the 1-1 draw with Italy on Tuesday night, creating the most chances, completing the most dribbles and taking the second-most shots at goal of any England player.
Sterling, who Transfermarkt value at £72million, has shown how an effective an attacker he can be for Manchester City this season, netting 20 times across all competitions including 15 goals in the Premier League, and if England’s new system can replicate that level of form at the World Cup, Sterling will be up there with the most influential forwards at the tournament as well.
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