Southgate reveals why England have been so defensive

Gareth Southgate has said that match condition and sharpness are among the reasons why England could not play more attacking football again in their 1-0 victory against the Czech Republic.

England topped Group D with seven points from three games, after keeping three clean sheets in a row, but they have only scored two goals.

After already missing a clinical advantage in the warm-up game, Southgate’s team collected just three shots on goal in 90 minutes against the Czechs. Still, it was still more than the two against Croatia in the opening match and the lone effort against the goal against Scotland in match two.

The defensive resilience is admirable as England have also only faced five shots on goal over 270 minutes of football in the tournament so far. A strong defense will often be the backbone of any triumphant team in such an environment, as it was for Portugal or Greece in the knockout stages of Euro 2016 and Euro 2004 respectively, but England fans long for more.

Raheem Sterling (2) was the only player in England to score during the Euro 2020 group stage / Chloe Knott – Danehouse / Getty Images

In addition, Southgate has said he would rather give it to them.

“We would like to see that too,” the England boss was quoted as saying by BBC Sport when asked specifically about “champagne football”.

“I think if you talked to the players, we talked a lot about that freedom, but we’re a little short in some areas of match fitness and sharpness, and I thought the game was starting to take its toll,” he added.

“We have met the woodwork in all three matches and the other thing we have to get better at is our attacking set-up which is normally such a good goal source for us and our deliveries have been really bad.

Jack Grealish brought a little more creativity to the Czech Republic / Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images

“We are difficult to score right now and although we may not be floating as much as we would like, that solidity is crucial for any team that does well.”

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