“By this point, it’s time to accept that England will not play good football at Euro 2024. They will not exploit the full potential of the Bundesliga top goalscorer, the Premier League’s player of the year or arguably La Liga’s player of the year. There have been no vintage victories, no truly convincing performances, and the feeling is one of frustration as much as elation back home. But they could still win it. Gareth Southgate’s approach for yesterday’s penalty-shootout win over Switzerland was the clearest sign yet that England have given up on being good, and are happy to try to make the opposition bad. Southgate abandoned his Plan A, the system he used throughout the group stage and in the narrow 2-1 win over Slovakia, and switched to a back five featuring wing-backs. Or did he? …”
NY Times/The Athletic – Michael Cox
