ROB DRAPER: Jude Bellingham was reminiscent of Bryan Robson
ROB DRAPER: Jude Bellingham was reminiscent of Bryan Robson at his best in Naples, Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp would LOVE this tall midfield… but after a fifth red card since 2020, do England have a discipline issue?
- Jude Bellingham kept Marco Verratti quiet for much of the game on Thursday
- Jose Mourinho would regularly stack his midfield with imposing physical players
- Re-live Harry Kane’s historic night as England inflict 2-1 defeat on Italy in Napoli
In what was possibly their best display under Gareth Southgate, England came away with their first win in Italy since 1961.
Declan Rice opened the scoring before a Harry Kane penalty – his record-breaking 54th for his country – prior to half-time put England 2-0 up at the interval.
However, the hosts fought back through Mateo Retegui to ensure a tight finish, with Luke Shaw seeing red after two yellow cards in quick succession to leave England down to 10.
Yet were there worrying echoes of that Euro 2020 final, when England almost let it slip away in the second half?
Here Sportsmail breaks down the game having re-watched it overnight.
England secured their first win in Italy since 1961 with what might be their best performance under Gareth Southgate
It’s all about Jude
To coin the pastiche of Sven Goran Eriksson’s England, it was ‘first half good, second half not so good’ in Naples last night. Except that in reality it was ‘first half really, really good, second half OK.’
In fact, taking into account the venue, the standard of the opposition and the competitive nature of the occasion, the first half may well be the best England have performed under Gareth Southgate. You could make an argument for passages of play against France, but they ultimately lost.
The obvious comparison was the first half against Spain in Seville, but this was a more tactically dominant performance, the latter having been achieved with pace and counter attack and a limited midfield of Dier, Winks and Barkley.
This was an England side dominating, bullying the European Champions in their backyard. What changed? It could be that Gareth Southgate has settled on 4-3-3 and England no longer cede numbers in midfield.
Jude Bellingham played as a No 10 but did the work of a No.8 and ran the show in midfield
But really what changed is Jude Bellingham arrived allowing Southgate to find his best formation. Previously when England played three in midfield, it was a 4-2-3-1, with Mason Mount or Raheem Sterling type player as the No.10, which is why you suspect they always fell back to a back three, as they felt defensively vulnerable.
Bellingham bridges the gap as a great No 10 who also does the work of a No 8 in the way an all-out attacking player won’t. His performance in the first half was reminiscent of Bryan Robson at his best.
He bossed the game, putting Marco Verratti and Jorginho in the shade. Admittedly Verratti is too good a player to allow that and re-established control in the second half.
But Bellingham looks like the missing piece of the England jigsaw, the world class midfielder which allows them to get three men in the middle without looking frail.
Jude Bellingham’s performance in the first half was reminiscent of Bryan Robson at his best
But then England almost threw it away….
You could say that. The second half definitely didn’t go to plan. They didn’t create any further chances after dominating the first half and there were worriying echoes of that Euro 2020 final, which will forever be a scar for England fans.
However, on that occasion England only dominated for 15-20 minutes before falling back. And they lost. So little by little, progress is being made.
There is an issue with England retreating once they have established a lead and – again – an earlier substitution might have allowed England to re-establish their grip of the game.
However, having re-watched the game, it felt a lot more fragile in real time than it actually was. Other than Harry Maguire’s mistake leading to the goal, Italy enjoyed possession without creating anything especially dangerous.
The match stats tell you they had six attempts in the second half to England’s zero. One was on target, none troubled Jordan Pickford. Ironically, this is what France do in big games: leave you feeling like you played really well but lost. So there was some impressive game management going on.
Mateo Retegui scored on his debut for Italy to give the hosts a fighting chance at 2-1 down
And the majority of possession was coming from Italy’s back four as England stepped back. They were permitted permission in dangerous areas. The trouble is, it does bring back nasty memories of Euro 2020 when much the same happened and then Italy scrambled in a goal.
England needed a change of midfield personnel earlier or a higher press. That said, once Shaw was sent off and England reverted to back three, they were very impressive in limiting Italy and hanging on.
Red alert: do England have a discipline issue?
An impressive feature of Gareth Southgate’s England has been their lack of red cards – in facts cards in general – in major tournaments. Too often, from David Beckham to Wayne Rooney, petulant moments have cost England.
In recent qualifiers though the record is poor. Shaw’s sending off was the fifth red card since 2020, all of them in competitive games, either qualifiers or Nations League.
Kyle Walker, Reece James, John Stones and Harry Maguire have all landed England in it. Prior to that no one had been sent off since 2014.
Shaw almost cost England the game last night and it was a particularly brainless challenge after having just received a time wasting booking. These kind of decisions make or break major campaigns. A pattern might be emerging.
Luke Shaw picked up England’s fifth red card in three years – all coming in competitive internationals
6ft high and rising: Jose would approve
Jose Mourinho liked to stack his midfield with players in the 6ft range and England looked physically dominant last night. Again, Bellingham brings that but also Rice. Phillips is smaller in height but so strong it barely matters. Likewise Kyle Walker.
The only slight, small players in the England team now are the wide players which is natural and given that they are also a technically good side comfortable passing out from the back, makes them a very imposing side to play against.
Only the best in the world would be comfortable against this England team.
As an aside, and with half an eye on Bellingham’s summer move, this England midfield three look very like Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool at their best. They rely on speed and creativity from the flanks, whilst the midfield power their way through opponents.
Jose Mourinho would approve of the tall and physically imposing midfield Gareth Southgate named
The midfield resembled Jurgen Klopp’s midfield three at Liverpool when operating at their best
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