England to ‘revert to a three-man defence’ against Germany
Gareth Southgate is poised to move to a back three against Germany tonight as England look to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2020, according to reports.
The Three Lions boss is looking to secure England’s passage through to the last eight with the Euro 2020 knockout phase kicking off for them against Germany in Tuesday’s eagerly anticipated clash.
Much has been made of the clash with Germany, 25 years on from the semi-final Wembley meeting at Euro 96, which the visitors won on penalties.
There has been plenty of negative discussion surrounding England’s group-stage displays, despite the fact they progressed with two wins and a draw to set up their clash against Germany.
But now Southgate is looking to make changes with the Daily Telegraph reporting that Southgate ‘is set to go back to the future and revert to a three-man defence’.
The newspaper adds that ‘barring a late change of heart, manager Southgate wants to match up the Germans’ and play a back three.
Southgate deployed the system during the Three Lions’ run to the World Cup semi-finals three years ago and it worked as they beat Belgium last October.
The Daily Telegraph reckons Luke Shaw and Kieran Trippier will start in the wing-back positions, while Harry Maguire, John Stones and Kyle Walker will make up the back three.
Meanwhile, Harry Kane believes England supporters would be happy to see the Three Lions win every game on penalties if it led to Euro 2020 glory
“I don’t think there’ll be any England fan disappointed if we end up winning every game 1-0 or winning every game on penalties without scoring another goal and we ended up lifting the trophy in a couple of weeks,” Kane said.
“We want to win games, of course, we’d love to play amazing football and then win every game scoring three or four goals – but we know that’s not always (going to be) the case.
“It’s been great that we’ve kept three clean sheets, that’s great for the whole team in general, to have that going forward because we’re going to need to continue that if we want to go all the way.
“Obviously a different opposition poses a different threat, different strengths and weaknesses, and hopefully we can go out there and exploit a few of theirs – and if we can score a few goals, then great.”
