Southgate’s Magic Substitutions Turn the Tide, Kane and Bellingham Finally Activated, England Back on Track for Title

Before the start of this European Championship, England, with the highest market value, was considered the top contender for the championship. However, when the group stage ended, criticism and doubts about England and Southgate continued to arise, with many believing that “Southgate” Southgate had many flaws in his player selection and tactics, and was unable to further enhance England’s ceiling.

When formulating England’s European Championship roster, Southgate’s decision to leave out Grealish and Maddison sparked huge controversy, with many believing that Grealish and Maddison’s technical characteristics could enrich England’s tactical options. At the same time, during the group stage, Southgate’s tactical arrangements were also widely questioned. First, who would partner Rice in midfield. Initially, Southgate opted to use Arnold alongside Rice. While Arnold’s passing ability is undeniable, his defensive ability and positional sense are not enough to support him in taking on the mantle of midfield leader. In the last round of the group stage, Southgate chose to use Gallagher alongside Rice, but the effect was still unsatisfactory.

Second, there is the issue of the coexistence of Kane, Foden, and Bellingham. The three players exposed various problems in their positions and cooperation during the group stage, directly leading to England’s low offensive efficiency. After the group stage, many industry insiders even started to offer advice to Southgate, such as dropping Kane and Bellingham and using Palmer and Watkins instead; having Foden sit in the midfield to organize the connections; or using Ward alongside Rice, etc.

But in the Round of 16, Southgate only made one adjustment to the starting lineup, which was to use Mount alongside Rice in midfield. After the match began, England, restricted by the need for integration, played in a stuttering fashion and allowed Slovakia to score first. Just when England was cornered, Southgate made continuous adjustments, successively bringing on Palmer, Eze, and Ivan Toney, and the effect was immediate. England gradually opened up their attacking space, allowing them to have more variations in their positional attacks and counterattacks, thereby completely controlling the situation.

In the stoppage time of the regular period, England finally scored. Bellingham, who Southgate had high hopes for, stepped up and scored an equalizer for England with a stunning bicycle kick. In extra time, England scored within the first minute. Palmer’s free kick was cleared, Eze sent the ball into the box, Ivan Toney headed the ball over, and Kane scored with a header. It can be seen that the three players brought on by Southgate all played their part, and Bellingham and Kane also did not disappoint Southgate’s trust. In this way, in the Round of 16, Southgate led England to a 2-1 victory over Slovakia through a series of operations, completing a vindication of himself. In the Quarter-Finals, England will face Switzerland.

In fact, in terms of team performance, the results Southgate has achieved with England are arguably the most outstanding since Alf Ramsey. Although Southgate has not yet led England to win the World Cup like Alf Ramsey, his record with the team in major tournaments is clearly respectable. In the 2018 World Cup, Southgate led England to the semi-finals; England’s last appearance in the World Cup semi-finals was in 1990. In the 2020 European Championship, Southgate led England to a historic finals appearance, but unfortunately, England lost to Italy in the final after a penalty shootout. In the 2022 World Cup, Southgate once again led England to the quarter-finals. Now, in this European Championship, Southgate will lead a rejuvenated England team to launch a new assault on the title.