Match Day Thread England v Switzerland
- Thread starter Chazz Rheinhold
- Start date
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It seems he is, Foden and Bellingham are both expected to play centrally behind Kane, with TAA and Saka as the wide men and three at the back.
No Guehi forces a change at the back. Alexander-Arnold and Saka as wingbacks is an intriguing move.
It's certainly a fairly radicle change, considering how reticent he was to even tweak things in previous games.
Even though Southgate is changing formation it's only because he's had too, that's why I think his tactics will be found out. Think this will be where we leave the Tournament.
I suspect the change to a back 3 is in large part because Switzerland themselves play a back three, and we had difficulties pressing against Serbia and Denmark's back threes with the shape we were playing.
I think the 3-4-3 - or 3-4-2-1, whatever you want to call it - will force us to make some awkward selections. We don't really have two wing backs. I expect it'll be Trippier and Saka rather than TAA; I'm not sure Trent as a wing back really works. I think there's also a chance that Gallagher will come back in alongside Rice because Mainoo maybe isn't good enough out of possession to play in the midfield 2, and Switzerland are pretty dangerous in possession.
I think the 3-4-3 - or 3-4-2-1, whatever you want to call it - will force us to make some awkward selections. We don't really have two wing backs. I expect it'll be Trippier and Saka rather than TAA; I'm not sure Trent as a wing back really works. I think there's also a chance that Gallagher will come back in alongside Rice because Mainoo maybe isn't good enough out of possession to play in the midfield 2, and Switzerland are pretty dangerous in possession.
I'd have Mainoo in ahead of Gallagher in any system.
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Saka is no more a left wing back than Foden is a left winger or Trippier a left back. In fact he's played there much less than either of those two have played in those positions. So if we care about players in natural positions then I don't think this is a solution. Personally that's not a priority for me but a lot of people do talk about it. I think this shape is probably more defensive but it might be what we need under the circumstances. The success of it might come down to how high up the pitch Saka and Trippier can get. If Switzerland pin them back then we'll have problems.