Trent Alexander-Arnold was dropped and later restored to right-back as England struggled to a 0-0 draw with Slovenia, as one other Gareth Southgate tweak failed.
Alexander-Arnold out, Conor Gallagher in was the one change as England went into their last recreation of Group C in search of a morale-boosting win.
It was a swap that had been telegraphed, with Southgate changing Alexander-Arnold with Gallagher early into the second half in each of England’s earlier video games on the Euros.
However there was not one of the enchancment that the supervisor could have hoped for, with it turning into patently clear that his “experiment” in utilizing a right-back in midfield was not the one challenge.
England noticed 73 p.c of possession in opposition to Slovenia, with 12 pictures on aim to their 4, however they solely produced 4 pictures on track and only one large probability.
That’s summed up by the truth that – through FotMob – no England participant created extra probabilities than Alexander-Arnold (three) all through the group stage.
In fact, that is regardless of the 25-year-old solely taking part in 129 minutes throughout the three video games in opposition to Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia, averaging 2.1 probabilities created per 90.
Regardless of their 0-0 draw, England nonetheless progress to the final 16 as winners of Group C, which in all chance means they face the Netherlands within the first knockout spherical.
It’s unlikely that Alexander-Arnold will come again into midfield for that conflict, with Southgate as a substitute sending Kobbie Mainoo on at half-time for the newest fall man, Gallagher.
However there was a sign late on that he may now be thought-about once more in his pure place, changing Kieran Trippier for the ultimate six minutes as Kyle Walker swapped to left-back.
Joe Gomez, in the meantime, was an unused substitute once more – one in all eight England gamers but to see any motion to this point within the event.
Talking on ITV’s post-match protection, Tottenham supervisor Ange Postecoglou gave his tackle Southgate’s midfield challenge, saying: “I feel the midfield setup is just not there for them to have the ability to play that sort of soccer.
“All three gamers – Declan, Conor and Jude – sort of play the secure method by way of their passing.
“You want any person artistic in there who’s ready possibly to gamble in a single sense, but additionally has the imaginative and prescient and the readability of thought to say ‘earlier than I obtain this ball, it’s going ahead’.
“And that then provokes motion from guys additional up.”
Briefly, Postecoglou described precisely the participant Southgate has made a scapegoat for England’s Euros marketing campaign to this point – with Alexander-Arnold one in all few within the squad to own that imaginative and prescient.
