The five ways Gareth Southgate and England were tactically outfoxed by Slovakia

Gareth Southgate struggled to find the answers against Slovakia - Reuters/Lee Smith

England’s last-16 tie against Slovakia promised a fresh start but the imbalance and tactical problems of the group stage continued in a shambolic first 45 minutes.

Gareth Southgate decided to make just one change to his team, with Kobbie Mainoo replacing Conor Gallagher in midfield, but saw his team fall behind after 25 minutes to Ivan Schranz’s goal.

Once again, England build-up play from the back was laborious. They struggled to play through or around Slovakia’s early pressure before struggling to break down a deeper defence later in the half.

Much to the surprise of England fans everywhere, Southgate decided against making any half-time substitutions.

This was how Slovakia out-thought and out-maneuvered England in a performance that prompted unwelcome memories of Iceland 2016.

Targeting Kyle Walker

It was a clear tactic from the Slovakians in the first half an hour - every time they got on the ball they looked to attack down their left flank to get behind Kyle Walker. The Manchester City right-back is considered among the best one-on-one defenders in his position, so the best route was to bypass him. When he broke forward himself, Slovakia exploited the space behind him and created chances, with one needing a brave block from Marc Guehi to save a goal. They also looked for reverse balls inside Walker to Lukáš Haraslín towards goal. When playmaker Stanislav Lobotka was facing the other direction, he would turn and switch play to Walker’s flank.

Centre-back communication

Harry Maguire’s presence was sorely missed in big matches like this. He is a talker and organiser of a backline and would have made a difference in the first half when Gareth Southgate’s defenders were getting dragged around. Guehi was England’s best player in the group stages but he is not a shouter. Communication with John Stones seemed to be an issue for Ivan Schranz’s goal, with both jumping for the same ball in the build-up. Guehi’s early booking did not help for his one-on-ones.

Failing to beat Slovakia’s press

Slovakia were bold in the early stages of the match, pressing high with a Jurgen Klopp-style 4-3-3. Their three forwards and three midfielders formed a tight block of six that England struggled to play through. With England building with an orthodox back four stretched across the pitch and Declan Rice in Mainoo front, it was a numerical match of six vs six plus Jordan Pickford as the spare man.

Slovakia's pressing shape vs England

England have not been very creative in their positioning of Pickford throughout the tournament, so were unable to utilise him as the extra player who could attract one of the Slovakia front six. Instead, Slovakia encouraged the ball to played wide to Walker or Trippier before pressuring them with their nearest number eight, locking on man-to-man.

The risk Slovakia took in these moments was leaving the pockets of space around deep-lying midfielder Stanislav Lobotka. Ukraine managed to manipulate Slovakia’s press and pop up behind their midfield, but England could not manage it. There were little to no third-man runs or counter-movements, and England were all too easily trapped.

There were occasions such as below when there was room for Foden or Bellingham to appear behind Slovakia’s, but England’s lack of ball progression prevented them from being found.

Letting Kieran Trippier have the ball

England’s opponents know that they struggle to move the ball down their left flank and so funnel their build-up play to that side. Slovakia showed Trippier the ultimate in professional disrespected by deciding that he was the England player they were happy to have the ball. Time and again, England attacks slowed at Trippier’s feet as he turned back inside. In the second-half, Southgate turned to Bukayo Saka as the solution to a left-sided problem that echoes the late Nineties and early Noughties.

Kieran Trippier's passes vs Slovakia - Opta

Failing to make subs

Unlike the last match against Slovenia, Southgate resisted making half-time subs. He may have looked at the last 10 minutes of the first half and saw that Slovakia sit right back and try to defend their lead. England were getting back into the game and enjoyed their best period of the match - but it was still a half where they failed to get a shot on target and freshening up the attack was an option. It could be argued that Phil Foden had a goal disallowed early in the second half so attacking was not the problem. Yet the likes of Cole Palmer or Anthony Gordon would have provided a different angle of attack. In the end it was the Slovakians who made the first changes of the game.

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