Spain v England: Pre & Post Match Analysis.

[Piethagoram]

Hope SM learns lessons on the way Spain play. England were too static at times and some needless giving the ball away too softly

[Piethagoram]

click on Henry Winter's piece for the fuller summary

[Piethagoram]

Not sure in my remaining lifetime England are going to win anything. Luke Williams may have done a better job than Southgate, who's loyalty to Kane has cost us so much

[True Magpie]

England put up a good fight, and Cole Palmer’s equalising goal further demonstrates why he should be more involved in the starting lineup. Spain have been the most consistent team, and after the first half, they really threw themselves into the match. Unfortunately, when it came to defence, poor decisions were made. Crosses weren’t blocked, defenders weren’t positioned in front of attackers, and space was left for players to run into and shoot without any pressure. We didn’t quite replicate Spain’s successful attacking strategy. Harry Kane might have been more effective coming on as a substitute, if at all, but the team is making progress. Reaching the final is an achievement in itself, especially considering their performance in the group stages. England may have had some luck in the knockout stages, but they gave us some hope. It’s not all doom and gloom; we just need to make some adjustments to the squad for the next World Cup.

[Wheelbarrow repair man]

So Near And Yet.... 

The First Spanish Goal shows what a Talent Yamal and Williams are but what happened to the English Defence?  The Amount of space Williams was given why had nobody picked him up? England knew what a Danger he was but he was left in  Acres of Room and Bang Spain 1 England 0.

Cole Palmer's equalizer was also an Excellent Goal and I thought Saka did well in the Build up. But I think England knew it wasn't going to be their night when that Spanish Defender headed the Ball off the Line.

Again questions need to be asked Regarding the English Defence and Spain's Winner. Once Walker was beaten by the Spanish player and the ball came in there was No Attempt by the England defender to move and  cut  the cross out, and Bang Spain 2 England 1. And More Heartache for England and their Fans.

Time To Go Southgate you've had eight years in the Job and you've failed to Win a Trophy in either of the Finals England have Appeared in. You Get Nowt For Coming Second. Have the Decency to Leave Pass the Reigns onto a New Coach. New England Coach? Eddie Howe or Sean Dyche.

[Piethagoram]

 

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[Piethagoram]

La parada = The stop!

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[Robbie]

Another reason why maybe England cannot win international tournaments.

Only 35% of players in the PL are English, and that means probably the most of them won't get regular games in the PL either.

In Spain's La Liga, 82% of players are Spanish and that probably means that the vast majority will get regular games in their top league.

(Statistics from Google)

So England appear to be at a big disadvantage straight away, with the England Manager having to choose players from a much smaller pool compared to, for example Spain.

[Wheelbarrow repair man]

@Robbie and therein  lies the Problem, Only 35% of Premier League players are English. So the F.A need to Put a Cap on Foreign players appearing in the Premier League, each English Club should only be allowed 3-5 Foreign Players in their Squad. That way young English Talent won't be strangled and kept out of their teams starting XI by some Mediocre  Foreign player with astronomical wage demands, and English Premier League Clubs would be encouraged to Produce their Own Talent who would then be able to give the New England Coach a Bigger Choice of Players.

[Piethagoram]

The Premier League was sold to the FA that it would make the England team stronger...very debatable

As regards the number of foreign players, the PL rely on the considerable TV income on overseas deals. These overseas TV deals income are not shared with the EFL.... one for the football regulator

As said before, Russia tried to limit foreign players...the consequence was domestic player wage demands went through the roof...and the overall quality of the league fell

I am all for the quality foreign players...but that income needs to be shared with EFL & NL

[Robbie]

Agree @Wheelbarrow repair man

When 17 players in a squad of PL clubs can be foreigners, how can English players get into the first 11 of a PL club unless they are very good? It is almost impossible.

It makes it very hard for an England manager when he only has a small pool of players to choose from.

It also puts it into perspective when it is possible, club sides such as Man City, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich could easily have won Euro 24 as a club side or given the Spanish side a better competitive game than England did.

[Robbie]

7 minutes ago, Piethagoram said:

As said before, Russia tried to limit foreign players...the consequence was domestic player wage demands went through the roof...and the overall quality of the league fell

82% of players in La Liga are Spanish players, & Real Madrid won the champions league. It works for them so why can't it work for us?

Putting things into perspective, thirteen of the players in the Spanish squad come from just three Spanish clubs, Real Socieidad, Athletic Bilbao & Barcelona, no wonder they can play together as a team.

[KB1862]

The problem is with the quota set about having to have a certain amount of home grown talent to meet the quota when registering a squad. Clubs exploit the loophole with this. Take a look at Manchester City, they have Scott Carson sitting as a 3rd choice keeper with no real intention of playing him he is only there to meet the homegrown talent quota. 

PL clubs seem to go for foreign imports rather than homegrown players. I understand the figures as @Piethagoram has pointed out as to why they do go more for foreign players rather than homegrown but even when clubs do take a chance on signing a homegrown talent from either the lower half of the PL or in the EFL, they seem to waste away on the bench, loaned out or get limited opportunities before being sold on. 

As @Robbie has said, Spain have a majority homegrown in their clubs maybe it's time we try do that in England to encourage clubs to do the same thing. 

Even in Germany, they have a brilliant reputation of developing talent. Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham enhanced themselves in the Bundesliga.

Germany's u21 team that beat England u21s in 2009 consisted of players like Boateng, Neuer and Ozil. Altogether that squad from 2009 went on to win over 400 caps for the senior team winning a World Cup in the process. The England u21's however have about 300 less caps with James Milner having the most at 61. 

There's a combination of problems with the system from a lack of homegrown players playing for the top clubs in England to not bringing through the young talent of the u21s to the senior side. Luis De La Fuente coached the youth teams of Spain and has brought from those youngsters and they have all gelled well together. Maybe it's something the FA should look into doing more of. 

[KB1862]

11 hours ago, Piethagoram said:

 

I agree with this. Palmer and Gordon deserved more of an opportunity and Gareth Southgate didn't know what to do with the creative talent. 

Spain were undoubtedly the best team of the tournament by far and they were also the better team last night but what makes it slightly frustrating is that England helped them look like the better team. Spain have always been a team that handles possession, breaks lines and has a lot of creative spark when they get in to the final third which they did last night but we allowed them to play there game. England were set up in a low block, counter attacking set up that allowed Spain to play to their strengths passing the ball around and making motions forward. The winning goal could have been avoided had players been closing down the ball quicker and stepping up to players receiving the ball. When Spain played France, the French were at them not giving them a moment on the ball and it forced them to play long balls at times and it was the only time this tournament that Spain looked like they may not have all the answers even though they still got through.

Whenever we broke at their defence, they didn't seem to be very comfortable when defending our advances but the way the team was set up meant that was limited and we were starved of the ball. They have shown cracks in their defence all tournament, when they conceded possession, but it wasn't exploited enough. You have to feel that had we been more adventurous and taking them on the front foot that we may have been in with more of a chance. We got the goal back and then proceeded to sit back when it was clear to see that we had the better of their defence. 

[Piethagoram]

This is a really good read and reinforces how possession of the ball is so important

"Between the Stones back-pass in the 76th minute and a Bellingham aerial duel in the 88th, England did not have a single touch in the Spain half. In that time, Spain had 80 touches in the England half. Watkins goes 16 minutes without a touch."

[Robbie]

When it comes down to it, it is mindset. 

England when behind, had attacked the Spanish goal to get back on terms, but once they had equalised, the England team, became cautious & negative once again.

If you can sum up an England team under the Southgate Managership this would be it.

It looks to me that Southgate is pushing this philosophy of safety first when drawing or in front, because for example, after Spain scored their second goal, England started attacking Spain again & nearly equalised when a header was cleared off the line in the last minute.

Like I've said before, Southgate lacks boldness and this mindset spreads to the England players in how they play, when they are in front, or when they are drawing, compared to being behind.

That's why I feel England will never win a tournament under Southgate.

[TheSkipper]

It’s reasonable for teams to spend the initial 10-20 minutes of a match trying to figure each other out. I felt the game against Spain was relatively open during the first half. Whatever Luis de la Fuente said at half time seemed to make a difference, as they emerged with a better understanding of how to create opportunities against us. In contrast, England started the second half in the same manner and quickly found themselves under pressure.

In my view, Spain deserved the victory. They played some truly enjoyable football. However, I believe that if changes had been implemented earlier, England could have posed a greater threat. The decision to start Harry Kane, despite knowing he’s been immobile and struggling, seems questionable. But I can appreciate that he just needs one or two good opportunities to score. It might have made more sense to start Ollie Watkins instead of fielding two strikers.

Spain struggled with the long balls and faster direct play, which all changed once substitutions were made. Cole Palmer has been a refreshing presence in the short time he’s been on the pitch. Unfortunately, John Stones and Kyle Walker contributed to our downfall due to their lack of defensive mindset and awareness. Their awareness was not so much about cutting out the danger, but rather being caught out and unable to block what led to goals. I thought Stones was incredibly average, unlike Marc Guehi. He performed exceptionally well throughout the Euros, I felt.

[KB1862]

@TheSkipper

Totally agree with the Marc Guehi comment. He's been quite possibly our best player this tournament and if he's not our best he's definitely in the conversation for being our best player of the tournament. Can't fault his displays.

Harry Kane should have been dropped 3 or 4 games before the final. He was not right all tournament, later on Southgate admitted he wasn't quite match fit going in to the tournament which begs the question why wasn't he subbed or dropped sooner?

Spain were open all tournament when they got attacked. Every game they played in and teams broke at them, their defence showed cracks that they could be got at but as @Robbie said we just sat back once we got level and that's been a key part of England under Southgate. People have been saying it was the players not applying themselves and going cautious on their own accord rather than Southgate instructing them but if that was the case, again as @Robbie said, Southgate has to be bolder and make the necessary changes to change the mentality and get them attacking again.