Thursday, December 19, 2024

Euro 2024 final: ‘Plenty to fear for England from Spain’s flying wingers’ – Izzy Christiansen

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The one time England have really been exposed during this tournament was against the Netherlands, and it came from us trying to press them in their own half.

Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden had gone high and hard on the press but the Dutch played some good football to get around that, and then opened us up.

It was an example of how something that many England fans and pundits want and have been crying out for, which is that kind of high pressing, can actually be counter-productive.

We will have to be especially careful not to commit too many people forward like that against Spain because their players will love to be put under pressure.

The quicker we go in to try to win the ball back from them, the easier it is to be beaten with a good first touch or fast, precise passing.

So, I actually would not be surprised if we see England drop into a kind of middle to low block on Sunday, rather than go after Spain.

Our fans might get frustrated about that but I think they need to understand that it is happening for a reason, because Spain are so good at playing fast passes forward under pressure.

There are going to be moments in the game where England are going to have to be brave and go for it, but we definitely cannot press for 90 minutes anyway and we have got to be careful we do not run out of gas too soon.

Whatever the approach, it is going to be a game where energy from the bench is going to have a massive impact.

In my opinion, Gareth Southgate has really delivered so far in terms of the timings when he has done that.

There has been a big call for him to bring on his substitutes sooner, but I agree with what he has done, and when. He has shown he has a real sense of how each game is going, and what is needed to make a difference.

Again, fans should not be frustrated if Southgate is patient before making his changes. He will be waiting for a reason.

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