England coach Gareth Southgate is about to return to the three-on-one formation that led his team to the World Cup 2018 semi-finals when they face Germany at Wembley.
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Germany, who play 3-4-3, have seen impressive progress this summer and many scouts believe that their strength lies in the wingback, where Robin Gosens and Joshua Kimmich are among two of the finest players around.
According to the Telegraph, Southgate feels that toe-to-toe with Germany is the best strategy for the European Championship 2020 match in the last 16 match and he will return to the three-man defense that gave him success in the earlier years of his reign.
Southgate looks back on the 2-1 victory against Belgium in October 2020, where England used a 3-5-2 formation, as inspiration for this game – but he apparently ignores the 2-1 loss in the return match with the same start.
For this one, Harry Maguire is expected to start to the left of the three backs along with John Stones and Kyle Walker, with Luke Shaw to the left back and Kieran Trippier to the right.
Maguire will retain his place on the team / Robin Jones / Getty Images
It is not mentioned who can start in midfield, where Mason Mount, Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips, Jude Bellingham and Jordan Henderson all compete in minutes. Mount, whose ten-day isolation period is now over, has trained alone and was recently tipped to return to the team immediately.
At the top, captain Harry Kane will retain his place, and he is expected to be flanked by Manchester City duo Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden, although Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka may retain his place after impressing last time against the Czech Republic.
The transition to a back three has been praised by Jose Mourinho, who wrote in his column for The Times that it is the perfect way to neutralize Germany’s broad threat.
“To be offensive, to win a match, a team must also be solid and not have doubts,” Mourinho wrote. “In my opinion, the best way to have control against Germany would be for England to play with back three and wing backs.
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“Portugal played with a back four against Germany and Robin Gosens and Joshua Kimmich destroyed them. Portugal could not cope. It all started with Kimmich on the right side and when they overloaded there and lured the Portuguese team over, they made quick changes of direction to Gosens.
“If England play with a back four, it will be mandatory to have incredible defensive work from the wings. Then they will be very limited. And if they make a mistake, you saw what happened on Sunday with the winning goal from Belgium’s Thorgan. Danger Bernardo Silva did not control the left back in that situation.
“If a hill goes towards the wing slopes, you give a lot of space on the inside, this is where Germany plays with Thomas Müller or Leroy Sané, Serge Gnabry and Kai Havertz. If you keep the slopes tighter, you have to ask your wingers to play a lot on the outside “That’s where Gosens and Kimmich are the biggest problem. Playing with a three gives a lot more security and control.”
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