Serbia 0-1 England: England take 3 points Despite Worrying Second Half

Well, it certainly wasn’t a classic, but England have won their opening game of the Euros (*sigh of relief*). It was very much a game of two different halves, and we’re going to do a dive into what England did well, and what there is to be concerned about.

Hey Jude!

Jude Bellingham. Need I say anymore. The maturity and confidence he shows at just 20 years old is something we have not seen from a player in an England shirt in a very long time. The type of goal Jude scored is something we can expect to see more of this tournament. We saw it last season for Real Madrid, those late runs into the box, a strikers finish from a central midfielder.

It wasn’t just attacking that Jude dominated in, he controlled the game all across the pitch for the three lions, having the most touches of the ball (92). He also put in a mature defensive performance, winning 8 of his 12 ground duels, more than any of his teammates. Overall, a very complete performance from the 20 year old.

Fluidity

Let's address some of the positives before we get on to what can be improved. The first half saw an incredibly fluid England team that had been sent out to play with the freedom that the calibre of these players warrants. In attack, we saw England operate with a back 3, with Trippier and Saka holding the width. This allowed our creative players in the middle of the pitch to play with freedom, and constantly rotate positions and passing patterns. We looked to play the ball from the back, as usual, being patient and waiting for those openings. This is where the goal came from, with Walker patiently waiting for Saka to dart past the Serbian backline to deliver the cross for Bellingham. It was refreshing, granted only for the first half, to see an England team play with the chains loosened slightly.

Solid Serbians

Considering they had a tough test up against them, credit has to be given to the Serbians in what was a very promising opening performance against the top team in their group. It was a good defensive performance from the Serbians, especially centre back Strahinja Pavlovic, winning the most of his teams successful tackles (3) and the most in the match. He also posed a good attacking threat, nearly managing a late equaliser for the Serbians. Serbia also managed to show their danger against England in the second half, dominating the ball in England’s half with 10 touches inside the England box, double the amount England had in the Serbian box. Serbia simply struggled with the quality England had, but against teams with a more level playing field in regards to the quality of the players, they will be a very interesting team to look out for.

DON’T PANIC!

Before I address some of the problems from the game, I cannot stress this enough for England fans reading this. DO NOT PANIC! It is normal for a team to start slowly in a tournament, and the most important thing is that Gareth and the team got the 3 points.

However, we do have some things to address. There were select players who did not seem to thrive very well in Englands setup, one of which being Phil Foden. With a lack of forward width and overlapping runs happening from Trippier, Foden was forced to offer support both out wide and centrally, which he seemed to struggle with. Along with a few lapses of concentration, including misplacing passes in the second half and wasting free kicks late in the second half, this led to the England defence coming under more pressure, causing a nervous ending for the three lions. It would be interesting to see how Foden performs in that role with Shaw on the left hand side, but against Serbia it wasn’t the best day for Phil Foden.

Foden wasn’t the only player however who struggled, with Harry Kane proving ineffective throughout the game. However, he did show great experience and intelligence to help us see out our 1-0 lead in the second half. Trent Alexander-Arnold also struggled in the midfield, especially when we came under pressure in the second half and he had to do more of his defensive duties, which was a worry before the tournament.

Overall, England struggled to maintain the composure they held in the first half, only managing 112 passes in the Serbia half in the second half, compared to 172 in the first. Despite being a narrow affair in the second half, it is fair to say we did not look like the likely team to score. Looking at the below image, we can see the average positioning of the England players in the first & second halves (courtesy of BBC Sport):

The main concern here is the gap between the defence and midfield in the second half. This left the defence with nowhere to go with the ball in possession, and left the three lions in trouble on several occasions.