England head coach Gareth Southgate has been advised by former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher to make personnel and tactical adjustments in response to the Three Lions’ lackluster Euro 2024 performances so far.
England began the competition with a 1-0 victory against Serbia on Sunday and played out a 1-1 draw in their matchday 2 encounter with Denmark on Thursday, giving them four of the six possible points.
Gareth Southgate’s side, however, have found it difficult to play with cohession in both contests and have a tendency to become defensive after gaining the lead.
In addition, certain players have fallen short of the expectations that before the tournament. This is demonstrated by Phil Foden’s lackluster performance, Trent Alexander-Arnold inbility to adapt in his new midfield role, and Harry Kane seeing little of the ball.
Carragher’s advise to Gareth Southgate
As a result of the aforementioned issues, Carragher has encouraged the England manager to consider switching England’s 4-2-3-1 formation to a 4-3-3 and to bench Foden and Alexander-Arnold in upcoming matches.
“Unfortunately, two of the best Premier League footballers – Trent Alexander-Arnold and Phil Foden – will have to be sacrificed now. The team’s set-up is not getting the best from them, or their team-mates,” said Caragher in his Telegraph column.
“Introducing Alexander-Arnold into midfield in a major tournament was always a risk. It has not worked. The experiment ended with his early substitution against Denmark.
“Elsewhere in the side, nobody loves watching Foden more than me. But for England to come up with a system that works and complements everyone, he cannot operate in the starting XI with Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane if they are all trying to occupy the same space and positions.
