England won’t be ‘football snobs’ over long-ball style, Gareth Southgate insists
Jordan Pickford and John Stones appeared to have some heated discussions about whether to build from the back or hit the ball long during the first half
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Gareth Southgate says England cannot afford to be “football snobs” this summer as the variety of short passes and long balls can disrupt Europe’s best.
The Three Lions produced a solid, composed display against Croatia on Sunday as they kicked off Euro 2020 with a 1-0 win in Group D.
The performance was not perfect and Jordan Pickford and John Stones appeared to have some heated discussions about whether to build from the back or hit the ball long during the first half of the Wembley clash.
Southgate says there is no right or wrong answer to that question and believes the ability to vary things can help in their quest for success this summer.
“I think they were just deciding (what to do),” the England boss said. “We give them pictures and it depends how the opposition press and there were times where it was on to take on.
“We don’t have as long to work on those patterns playing from goal kicks as you do at a club, and also we’re one mistake away from it being more costly – across 38 games that’s different.
“Those guys are able to make those decisions. We give them possible patterns depending on how the opposition are pressing, there was a little spell where we went long and we just talked about that at half-time.
“We didn’t want to do that every time. But there are moments to go longer, we’ve got a centre-forward who wins more of his share of the ball.
“And we shouldn’t be football snobs. It’s great to play out from the back and get to the halfway line in control of the ball, but it’s just as effective to go to the centre-forward and be in control of the ball and be able to play from there
“The variety is important against top opposition.”