The Euros Await

England kick off their delayed Euro 2020 campaign against Croatia in just over a week as they look to build upon their semi-final run at the 2018 World Cup.

Covid-19 postponed the 2020 European Championships but with the tournament starting on June 11 and England kicking off on June 13, excitement for the competition is building.

England’s journey began back in March 2019 with a 5-0 win against Czech Republic in Group A of qualifying. The Three Lions went on to dominate a group containing Kosovo, Bulgaria, Montenegro and the Czechs.

Qualifying proved light work for England, winning 7 of their 8 games with a +31 goal difference, losing only once to the Czech Republic 2-1 in November 2019.

Topping their group with an impressive goal difference helped England into pot 1 for the draw, which matched them up in Group D against Croatia, Scotland and qualifying rivals Czech Republic.

Elsewhere, the draw has given us a tantalising group of death with France, Portugal, Germany and Hungary all competing against each other in Group F.

England manager Gareth Southgate announced his 26 man squad on June 1, leaving out Aaron Ramsdale, Ben Godfrey, Ben White, Jesse Lingard, James Ward-Prowse, Mason Greenwood (injury), and Ollie Watkins from his 33 man provision team. The biggest surprise was the inclusion of 4 right backs.

The full squad is:

It suggests Harry Maguire will not have fully recovered from his ankle injury when the Euros begin, as it appears Kyle Walker is being viewed as a right centre back in a back 3.

Since the announcement, England played out a 1-0 victory over Austria during which Bukayo Saka scored his first England goal.

Trent Alexander-Arnold unfortunately picked up a thigh injury, ruling him out of the tournament which will likely see Southgate recall up one of the 7 he left out.

England face Romania at Riverside Stadium at 5:00pm on Sunday June 6 for their final friendly ahead of the tournament to give Southgate one last chance to experiment with his team.

My thoughts:

I am worried about the squad selection as it gives the implication that Maguire is injured. England saw some success with a back three at the 2018 World Cup, but it ultimately proved their downfall as both goals in the semi-final came from wing back and wide centre back mistakes and poor positioning.

It is an issue further exacerbated by the lack of centre backs who are capable of playing in a back 4 to a high level. It is surprising that Fikayo Tomori’s name was not mentioned more in the lead up to the tournament given his success at AC Milan in a back 4 this season ahead of his rumoured £25 million move.

This leads onto another issue: the lack of cohesion. It feels as if a number of the starters in this England team will only have played together a handful of times, therefore it is unlikely they have developed an understanding with each other on the pitch. Heading into a major tournament it feels a bit like Southgate is relying on hope.

Given the bracket, it looks like England will have to face one of France, Germany or Portugal in either the last 16 or the quarter-final, which will present arguably Southgate’s toughest test as England manager.

Pessimism aside, England have an exciting squad with a plethora of talent and a group they should progress from with relative ease. And above all else, it is exciting to have a major international tournament right around the corner.

Adam Perry - 04/06/2021