






















The most obvious change since Tuchel's appointment has been his willingness to leave star names out of the squad.
At times during Euro 2024, Southgate's England had Phil Foden on the left wing, Cole Palmer in attacking midfield and Trent Alexander-Arnold in holding midfield.
Tuchel left all three out of his World Cup squad.
In simple terms, this can be explained as Tuchel taking a system-first approach while Southgate took a player-first approach.
Tuchel decided on a clear system and a set of tactics he wanted to use, then looked at the players who could best carry out the roles he wanted - irrespective of name.
It is one of the reasons Morgan Rogers - more suited to what Tuchel wants from his number 10 - was picked over Foden and Palmer.
Southgate appeared to look at the best individuals he could select before trying to build a system around them, and at times was questioned for shoehorning players into roles they were not perfect fits for.
That is partly why we saw changes to the starting XI and system mid-tournament under Southgate.
Both approaches have proved successful throughout football and come with their own pros and cons.
While Tuchel has created a system in which each player's role is clear, Southgate instead encouraged individuals to solve problems - reading the game as it happened.
Including big names across the pitch therefore made sense, with their individual quality helping England produce game-changing moments. Think Jude Bellingham's bicycle kick against Slovakia, or the long-range finish from Cole Palmer against Spain.
Bellingham did score an individually brilliant goal in last week's opener against Croatia, but it came on the back of a well-worked attacking routine England have developed over the course of Tuchel's reign. It's a move that, in theory, also works with Rogers in Bellingham's role.
Without Alexander-Arnold's through-balls, Foden's long shots and Palmer's creativity, England's current squad has perhaps slightly less individual game-breaking quality - but Tuchel will hope those he has selected will combine to produce a greater collective performance.

Looking at England's equaliser in the Euro 2024 final, the ability of individual players - profiled properly - to come up with solutions was clear. First, Bukayo Saka - from this one-against-two situation - was able to thread a pass into Jude Bellingham in the box
That game, in particular, highlighted two clear differences to the Southgate era.
The first being the speed of play through the middle third.
Southgate's sides, perhaps more traditionally, built up short - looking to progress the ball more slowly. They wanted to keep the ball, move up the pitch as a unit before - when pinning the opposition in their own third - trying to break down the low block.
That worked particularly well against teams who conceded control and were reluctant to press high.
But with football always developing, games towards the end of Southgate's reign featured England facing increasingly clever defensive tactics. We saw braver mid-blocks and, at times, teams pressing higher. This is in line with the rise in man-to-man pressure we've seen become more common in club football.
The second difference was the manner in which the team looked to solve tactical dilemmas.
For Tuchel, clever and more aggressive defensive tactics are countered through specific patterns and planned solutions.
Against Croatia, as England passed the ball backwards, Declan Rice moved into a wide-left position vacating the centre of the pitch for Harry Kane to drop into alongside Elliot Anderson. Bellingham pushed forward into the last line.
These movements were automatic but worked to undo Croatia's press. After bringing Croatia up the pitch, the moves ended with Kane or Anderson playing it long into Bellingham, Anthony Gordon or Noni Madueke.
Coaches prescribe solutions for players, who are selected to execute those ideas. That is put in a simplistic way, but is the Tuchel way.
Southgate, when faced with a similar mid-block shape, would rely on the players he'd selected to solve the problem in a more intuitive manner.
This approach was harder for opponents to prepare for, with Alexander-Arnold and Kobbie Mainoo able to come up with different ways to progress the ball - but without specific direction, players could become stuck against well-prepared defences in an increasingly tactical sport.
The rotation England used against Croatia, of course, won't be a surprise for their next opponents.

This was a common situation England found themselves in under Southgate. By building up slowly, and moving up the pitch as a unit, they pushed teams close to their own goal before then trying to break them down
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理,仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。