The five ways that Gareth Southgate’s England have changed since the World Cup

England have followed up their superb World Cup success by reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League.

By the time England play their semi, it will have been one year since the semi-final heroics in Russia. But even now, sitting seven months away from the Nations League final four, it seems like the 2018 World Cup was a lifetime ago.

So much has changed in football since then that it doesn’t seem possible that it’s the same year, but it is. Change is good, it drives teams forward and prevents stagnation. In an international football scene where so many teams are just standing still, England are actually progressing and that is huge, it’s why they were able to make the semi-finals so quickly despite being in the hardest group.

Here we’ve come up with five specific ways that Southgate’s England side has changed since the summer in Russia:

1. No Set System

At the World Cup, England played 3-5-2. No matter he opponent, no matter the match situation, the system was 3-5-2. Southgate’s loyalty to this shape even drew some criticism despite England’s rise. Talk of a plan B was abound, but Southgate repeated that Pep Guardiola mantra that the best possible plan B was to improve plan A.

Then after the World Cup, England switched instantly and have since been playing 4-3-3. There are similarities of style, sure, but the system is wholly different. Southgate seems to have formulated a new plan A, and the players have bought in wholesale.

But where this leaves England is so good, because the players can switch back to the 3-5-2 instantly if need be, as we saw in second half of the win over Spain. Because of Southgate’s insistence on treating each system as an all-encompassing plan A, England are now much harder to plan for because they could line-up in two very distinct ways.

2. A Plethora of Pace

At the World Cup, England were a team of incredibly fast motion but lacking many fast runners. That sounds contradictory, but it’s not. They moved the ball very quickly, but that was mostly down to crisp passing and risky movement forward. Raheem Sterling was the only starter blessed with true pace, with Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy coming off the bench to add to that.

Now England play with infinitely more pace in attack. Kyle Walker makes the back-line faster now he can run forward, and having Marcus Rashford a more permanent fixture of the starting XI with Raheem Sterling makes the team so much quicker from the get-go. Then you look at the bench and see Jadon Sancho and Callum Wilson desperate to get on the field and realise the scale of England’s speed. The kind of speed that makes them a nightmare to defend against, especially if you’re the kind of defence that pushes high.

3. Mighty Joe Gomez

At the World Cup, England’s back three were John Stones, Harry Maguire and Kyle Walker. And whilst this was an impressive trio of defenders and they worked well together, there was definitely the feeling that the whole was more than the sum of its parts. Walker was obviously a full-back covering out of position, but the real issue was Maguire.

The massive-headed Sheffield lad was absolutely imperious at the World Cup in a back three, rampaging forward with the ball and of course being dominant on set-pieces too. But there was always a nagging sense that his skills wouldn’t translate perfectly to playing in a back four alongside just one other centre-back. He was too big and too enthusiastic to work without a dedicated covering defender.

Enter Joe Gomez. First the young Liverpool defender came into the side as part of the back three, but a England have transitioned to the back four it’s been Gomez that has emerged as the perfect partner for Stones. The centre-back is an almost impossibly stable defender who is equal to Stones in both talent and talent ceiling. This could be England’s next Rio Ferdinand-Sol Campbell partnership.

4. Options

At the World Cup, England had just one real option available to change things: bring on Marcus Rashford. Technically Jamie Vardy and Eric Dier were there too but both men were so far out of their depth at the World Cup that it was almost laughable. So if England were going to change things, they could have started Rashford, that was it.

Now? Now things are totally different as Gareth Southgate can do things so different from game-to-game. It’s not just a matter of being able to change the system, that’s one thing, but now England are capable of actually picking different teams within those systems. Harry Kane is a certain to play but who goes either side of him? Sterling and Rashford? Or maybe Jadon Sancho gets a start? And what about Jesse Lingard?

In midfield there is so much possibility. Dele Alli (and Lingard) provide off-the-ball movement and goal threat whilst Fabian Delph brings a sense of composure and perceptive passing. Ross Barkley has passes but can dribble with the ball so superbly.

At the base of midfield there are many options even if only two of them actually work. Henderson is a passer (but a poor defender), Dier is a hatchet man (but a poor passer) whilst Harry Winks is a passing pivot who could be just what the side needs, ditto Nathaniel Chalobah.

Left-back at the World Cup was the elder Ashley Young or the out-of-form Danny Rose. Now Southgate can pick between the blistering Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell. And on the right we have Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker and Trent Alexander-Arnold, each of whom play right-back differently. There are so many options for Southgate and none of them drop the team’s quality too much. It’s amazing!

5. More Than Momentum

At the World Cup, “football’s coming home!” was the cry. Was it ironic or sincere? Arrogant or justified? That’s almost irrelevant, what was true is that there was a palpable momentum behind England this summer. From the second that squad announcement video hit to the final whilst against Croatia in the semi-final, no one can deny England had the sauce.

Not enough sauce, as it turns out, but no one could deny it was there. In fact that became a source of concern; was that all that was propelling England forward in Russia? Did they owe their success to an easy draw and an unrepeatable sense of spirit?

Now after the highs of Russia, England experienced the low of getting slapped around by Spain in their first Nations League game. They experienced an edgy friendly win against Switzerland and an uninspired 0-0 draw away to Croatia. These games are momentum killers.

And yet England rebounded from them by raising themselves to beat Spain in Spain. And then one month and one pointless friendly later, they blew Croatia off the park to qualify for the Nations League final four. These results and performances show that Gareth Southgate’s England are not smoke and mirrors, this was not a team built solely on momentum; this is a real team steeped in quality that is both theoretical, potential and actual. England are for real.

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