The bottom half of the bracket at Euro 2024 looks so wide open after some surprise group-stage results – and there’s no clear candidate to take advantage and stride through to the final, with England in particular underperforming and the other three nations looking hit and miss so far.
Full-back calls crucial to England improvement
Much has been made over the debate surrounding England’s ever-changing central midfield pairing, but Gareth Southgate should be also paying attention to the lack of impact from full-back, previously a strength of the national side.
Luke Shaw is reportedly fit but hasn’t yet featured, while Kieran Trippier has a knock and Kyle Walker has been hugely ineffective. Ezri Konsa may start at full-back or centrally, replacing the suspended Marc Guéhi – in short, the Three Lions could face a major reshuffle, moving to a back three with wing-backs.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is an obvious candidate to add penetration from deep and some passing tempo, yet still isn’t trusted to do the job by his England boss. Who he picks in these two roles will be vital to attacking support and supply line.
Fit-again Breel and a brand-new pairing
Talking of Guéhi’s ban, it means England’s defence will definitely have at least one alteration for the first time all tournament. Konsa or Lewis Dunk are in the frame – Joe Gomez is another who seems unfavoured – but none have started a major tournament game or ever played in one at centre-back, let alone beside John Stones.
Uncertainty and unfamiliarity are not generally ideal principles in defence, and less-so when facing an attack with mobility, pace and great technical strength, such as the Swiss have.
Breel Embolo is back fit and likely to lead the line and his speed and positional rotation will be a huge test for whoever starts in the England defence. Don’t bet against him creating or taking on at least a couple of big chances through brilliant movement alone.
Golden Boot in Gakpo’s sights
In the last of the quarter-final match-ups, Netherlands face Türkiye in a wide-open looking encounter, both having been scoring for fun…and capable of conceding plenty, too.
That makes it a game Cody Gakpo in particular will relish: he’s joint-top of the Golden Boot standings with three goals to his name so far, but technically he leads the race as he also has an assist, the next category to decide the winner in the event of a tie.
Given so much of the Dutch side’s attack goes through his channel and the form and confidence he’s showing, Gakpo must feel he has a great chance to add another to his tally and send his nation through.
Just embrace the madness – and the late drama
Sometimes it’s not tactical or even technical, sometimes the football madness and the desire to win just takes over. Türkiye are a great example of that working well at times and against them at others, but the Dutch are not immune either.
Between them they’ve scored 14 and conceded ten in four matches apiece – it’s the tie of the round for potential excitement and this game could swing both ways multiple times over.
Just when you think there’s a winner emerging, don’t be surprised if the encounter wildly reverses direction and end-to-end craziness ensues – and don’t switch off before the end!
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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