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England crash out of the Nations League after underwhelming 1-0 defeat to Italy in Milan on last night.
With no wins in five games, the pressure is now firmly on Southgate as the Lions prepare for the World Cup in Qatar in just under two months time.
After a first England senior team rendition of "God Save The King", during the opening moments of the game we saw England’s front three working very narrow to press the Italian defence, providing the wing-backs (Saka and James) with space to exploit and take control of the flanks.
Whereas Italy, well known for their organisation, used man-to-man marking to minimise the space England could push into resulting in Rice and Bellingham having to be constantly on there feet due to the high tempo start Italy provided.
Di Marco was one of Italy’s star men on Friday, displaying an exciting performance as he proved himself a constant issue for England’s defence. He provided tremendous service into the box for West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca as he put England under pressure under numerous occasions due to his venomous in-swinging crosses into the 6 yard box.
For England though, rising star Jude Bellingham maintained dominance in the midfield keeping composed and linking the defence to the attack as he constantly fed balls through to Foden and Sterling as we saw all major chances sprout from his composure.
The Rice and Bellingham combination allowed the latter to dart forward and provide the attack with a deep lying support as the West Ham captain sat back and was used as a pass back option when in need.
In the opening 30 mins of the game England enjoyed more possession at 66%, yet they were deemed disappointing as they failed to register a single shot for 20 minutes. At this point we saw Foden continuously drop into an no. 8 role, forced to create chances out of position due to the lack of structure between the side. Despite that, him and Bellingham showed promising sparks as they produced very intricate play through the Italian midfield.
As for the defence Spurs defender Eric Dier, who returned to the side after 20 months away from the Three Lions squad, implemented a confidence in the back three which allowed Maguire and Walker to push up offering a more offensive approach and helped us maintain possession at times.
At the half-time mark, England managed to reach five shots (one on target) and also stay in front in possession terms at 55%. At this point England had failed to score a goal from open play in 405 minutes of football which sparked a between both fans and media; questions again being asked about Southgates tactical ability.
As the second half commenced the tempo was recognisably higher and both sides came out with more flair as we saw two clear cut chances from both sides just 5 minutes in. We then saw early yellow card for Leandro Bonucci saw, and a Reece James free-kick fly over the bar in a disapproving fashion.
In the 63rd minute Italy made two substitutes consisting of Pobega on for Barella, and Gnoto for Scamacca. At this point we saw the tension between the sides rise as 1v1 duels appeared more frequent around the pitch and players becoming more visibly frustrated.
The first and only goal was scored by Giacmo Raspadori in the 68th minute in remarkable fashion. A lobbed pass over the England defence by Leonardo Bonucci was met by the sublime first touch of the Napoli forward leading to him turning Walker too easily and caressing a beautiful right-footed finish into the bottom right corner past Nick Pope.
Many England fans alike seemed to questions of Walkers defending, failing to close down Raspadori, with Italy substitute Wilfred Gnoto using his pace to drag the other two England defenders wider allowing the space to be provided.
During the latter stages of the game, late substitutes Grealish and Shaw brought more life to the game as they gave a more offensive look to the left-hand side. Grealish proved to be tricky for the Italians as he drew two fouls in rapid succession due to his quick feet and direct movement. At this stage England enjoyed a good spell of possession in the final third, but unfortunately didn't result with the ball in the back of the net, but gave hope for the travelling England fans that something was salvageable from this game.
With 6 minutes added on, England's tempers got the best of them as silly fouls were given away resulting in late bookings for Grealish and Dier meaning the restriction of Grealish featuring on Monday night against Germany who also suffered defeat against underdogs Hungary who top the group with 10 points.
After the full-time whistle blew, social media erupted with ferocious backlash surrounding England’s bad run of form and Gareth Southgate’s future as England manager. This was England’s 5th game without a win, their worst run of form since June 2014 under Roy Hodgson.
Can Southgate supply the nation with hope that this England side can turn around there run of performances in time for the World Cup in Quatar in just over 50 days? I guess we will find out.
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