Not today man.
Zack Goldman says goodbye to the quarters.
Good morning! Today we’ve got our last quarterfinal, England versus Italy.
Both teams traveled to Euro 2012 with somewhat muted expectations, having underachieved at the last World Cup and feeling less than confident about their current squads.
Both federations dealt with a fair bit of of internal turmoil in the run-up to the tournament—Italy’s woes regarding yet another match fixing scandal (this leading me to believe that putting a Medieval Times in Italy might be the most fun thing ever), while England’s primarily stemmed from its well-publicized race issues that led to a managerial vacancy and a squad divided.
Let’s check out five things to focus on.
Whither Italy’s squad circle?
ONE. What formation will Italy come out with?
We all know Roy Hodgson will deploy his typical 4-4-1-1. So far, his approach has drawn praise from all corners—and rightfully so—as the English have embraced ‘winning ugly’. It should be mentioned, however, that they could easily have lost all three group stage matches. But, they didn’t. And that, my friends, is precisely the point.
Italy’s shape will be much more difficult to predict. With Giorgio Chiellini out with a thigh injury, Italian manager Cesare Prandelli has to ask himself whether he is willing to revert to the 3-5-2 formation that he deployed in his team’s first two matches in Poland.
Against Ireland, Prandelli both rotated his squad and altered his formation, coming out with a 4-3-1-2. He preferred Antonio Di Natale to Mario Balotelli, and inserted Federico Balzaretti, Ignazio Abate, and Andrea Barzagli on the backline alongside Chiellini.
Simply put: Prandelli’s choice of which formation to go with today is the lens through which the narrative of this one will be written.
The 3-5-2 and the 4-3-1-2 see Italy play very different styles—and they react very differently to a 4-4-1-1. While a 4-3-1-2 is much more orthodox, conducive to man-marking England, and allows the Italians to control the game much better with possession football, a 3-5-2 is a much more risky prospect—but one that could play dividends. So far, England have been very comfortable playing their Hodgsonian style—content to sit back, remain organized, work hard defensively, and then attack as a group (particularly by working the ball into dangerous, wide positions). A 3-5-2 may help the Italians unlock England’s organized defensive construction, but it would also likely make Prandelli’s men more defensively vulnerable and could force their wing backs to play at an almost suicidal tempo.
TWO. Steven Gerrard and Andrea Pirlo have been absolutely superb—and have almost identical statistics through three matches. Stevie G has played provider three times for England and has undoubtedly been the engine of their attack. Pirlo has also done it all, finding the back of the net against Croatia on a gorgeous free-kick and assisting on two of Italy’s three other goals. Over the hill? Hardly. All eyes on these two today.
THREE. England must continue their practice of defending from the top-down. One of the least publicized aspects of Hodgson’s defensive system might be its most intriguing—the allocation of very strict defensive duties to both forwards.
While Wayne Rooney is no stranger to occasionally roaming deeply into his team’s own half and making a crucial challenge at Manchester United, his defensive role is more streamlined and regimented with Hodgson’s England.
The concept is simple enough that Danny Welbeck and Andy Carroll, hardly possessing any defensive faculties between them, have done a decent job of buying in: When the ball is being advanced on your side, check back, drop in defensive support, and face-up the man in possession.
It is a simple bit of defensive responsibility and requires a tad more movement for the front-men, but it makes a big difference for England’s defensive shape and keeps the marks organized in the midfield.
Not to be that American in the room, but it’s a little like an effective half-court press in basketball, which uses that extra bit of early defensive effort to try and disrupt shaky guard play. In any event, a lot of the credit that has gone to the Three Lions’ midfield for holding teams at bay when not in possession should actually go, in part, to the way Hodgson has used his strikers as his first line of defense. It will be interesting to see how it is used against Italy—particularly if they end up playing with three in the back.
“He is who we thought he is?”
FOUR. What to do about Ashley Young? It’s no secret that the lad has struggled throughout his first three matches and has drawn criticism for some poor decisions in the attacking third in addition to some suspect defending. He seems to be in a rut, both confidence- and performance-wise, and though he is slated to start, one has to wonder if Hodgson pulls him earlier than usual if England are down a goal or look like conceding in a deadlocked affair.
Subscribe to TSG via RSS
Recent Comments