England are not fit enough, so there is no excu...

Gates open to festivalbut rain could be on the way: Glastonbury

Published Time: 17.06.2024 - 10:40:25 Modified Time: 17.06.2024 - 10:40:25

England must prove they can dominate a side for 90 minutes and to do so they will need Southgate to use his bench AFP/INA FASSBENDER It was Sven-Goran Eriksson who inadvertently captured the essence of England

England must prove they can dominate a side for 90 minutes and to do so they will need Southgate to use his bench

: AFP/INA FASSBENDER

It was Sven-Goran Eriksson who inadvertently captured the essence of England. “First half good; second half not so good,” the Swede would say, so often that the phrase belonged to what became known, during the 2006 World Cup, as “Sven bingo”. But it felt, watching England’s lopsided 1-0 victory over Serbia, as if he had alighted on some eternal truth about this team at major tournaments. For while this was only their second ever win in a European Championship opener, the performance followed a time-honoured pattern, where a frenetic start gave way to a shapeless conclusion, with a drop-off in fitness so steep that you found yourself looking to Gareth Southgate to do something, anything, to put it right.

The transformation was maddening. For half an hour it seemed as if we were watching a rejuvenated England, dominant and decisive, with Jude Bellingham imposing himself not just through a stunning header but a deliciously sly bodycheck on Filip Kostic.

: REUTERS/John Sibley

It was like enjoying an unusually intense caffeine hit. Except then, inevitably, came the energy crash. Exuberance gave way to exhaustion, the players’ legs looking heavy and the manager apparently at a loss to stop the slide. Not until the 69th minute did Southgate reshuffle, replacing a tiring Trent Alexander-Arnold with Conor Gallagher, a human Duracell Bunny.

There was a nagging feeling we had seen this script before. Yes, England gained priceless points that gave them control of their group. And yes, Bellingham’s sheer authority as a No 10 at 20 years old was nothing short of wondrous. But the contours of this game – an early high, then a plateau, and finally an alarming descent – were familiar. This is not simply a question of interpretation: look at the statistics across the two halves, which show England becoming less effective in every crucial department. From 328 passes in the first half, they managed 264 in the second. Their passing accuracy fell from 91 per cent to 87, and their share of possession from 55 to 51.

: Mark Large

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