Gareth Southgate debuted England’s 4-3-3 in their Nations League match against Croatia. Ross Barkley had little opportunity to transfer what he knows of the formation from Chelsea over to his national team.
Gareth Southgate is determined to shed two of his defining elements from England’s World Cup run: the three-man defence and his vest. Clad in a sportcoat, Southgate watched England stumble and plod through their first game in a 4-3-3. Ross Barkley made his first start for the Three Lions in over two years, alongside Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier in midfield. Unfortunately, he spent much more time close to the back-line than he ever would in the same role at Chelsea.
England’s ability to play out from the back was one of the most impressive attributes of their World Cup run. With one fewer centreback in their new formation, England could barely find the passing lanes to connect a few passes between Jordan Pickford and the far side of midfield. Even a slight press from Croatia sent John Stones and Harry Maguire into a strangely stacatto sequence of short passes.
Over the first 20 minutes of the game, Jordan Henderson dropped deeper and deeper to offer the centrebacks a nominal midfield option. Either from training or poor decision-making, though, the centrebacks looked to connect with the full-backs. They, in turn, had to drop deeper as well, giving England the appearance of a three- or four-man defence.
Henderson’s and the full-backs’ movements towards the centrebacks brought Ross Barkley into what should have been Henderson’s and Eric Dier’s territory. Barkley came back to minimize the distance between whoever took the ball off the defenders and the forwards. The Chelsea man was England’s best hope to connect the defence and the forwards. He can turn quickly on the ball when taking the pass, is strong and explosive to dribble out of trouble and can protect the ball if he had to wait for a teammate to open up for an outlet pass.
By the half-hour mark, these tendencies were exaggerated until the formation and patterns were scarcely recognizable. Henderson started dropping behind the two centre-backs, giving the distinct impression of a three-man defence. This brought Barkley into the pocket directly in front of the midfielders. And since this was happening at the edge of England’s defensive third, England were subject to the constant press and presence of Croatia’s forwards and midfielders.
As a result, Barkley was like an inverted recycle option. He spent much of the first half facing his own goal at the top of a shape that had Henderson and the centrebacks at the base, and the full-backs flitting about the touchlines. The centrebacks would pass him the ball only for him to send it back to them or out (but still back) to the full-backs. Over half of Barkley’s first-half passes were backwards, and many of those were short passes pinging around this collection of deep men. Rarely could England build up the play for Barkley to take the ball on the turn in even the smallest amount of space to move the play up field, let alone feed Barkley the ball in an advanced position to do what he does best.
The second half was better than the first, and Barkley was able to spend more time near the top of Croatia’s penalty area than England’s. He did not finish the game with any notable actions, but neither did most (any) of his teammates.
Even for a game played with no fans and in a new formation, England were more than a bit raw in the 4-3-3. It spoke to the importance of training time and patience, and how much Maurizio Sarri has accomplished in a relatively short time at Chelsea. Sarri, too, transitioned Chelsea out of a three-man defence into a 4-3-3. This was probably what Chelsea looked like in those first few days at Cobham, even before they started their preseason friendlies.
Gareth Southgate showed his confidence in Ross Barkley by giving him the full 90 minutes. Barkley did not have many opportunities to repay that confidence, but he did not give Southgate any reason to regret his decision.
Once England find their rhythm and their way out of their zone, Barkley will be able to take up his proper station on the pitch and support England’s attack. Now he must simply hold off competitors for his place as he does at Chelsea.