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Spain imported their ideas and created a successful team, as did so many others....Germany transformed the way they played under Loew, they weren't fun to watch in 2002, despite getting to the WC final. The Netherlands were playing anti-football the last time they came close to winning something. So I'm not sure I agree on that point.
England and Southgate have no excuses. They have a lot of very good players and should get to the semis, that's not delusion, it's reality.
lahdelah
andyp
Southgate is often accused of being a limited manager tactically. This may be true in some ways. But it is also to misunderstand the extent of what he is being asked to do. Southgate has to deal with two things. First, England delusion, post-colonial angst, the Arthurian myth dynamic as expressed through trying to win a football tournament while not really being good enough. It seems hard even now to accept that other nations also have talent.
This is one source of drag. Simultaneously Southgate, like all England managers, has been asked to make up a set of tactics. There is no indigenous Premier League style, as there is, say, a Dutch or Spanish or German style. What is the English way? Ferguson-era hard 4-4-2? Hit Les?
The Premier League is instead a petri dish for imported ideas, dominated right now by the Guardiola blueprint and versions of German-style pressing. But it remains the case that none of these are exemplified by or built around English players. England can’t play like Manchester City. They have too many holes. So Southgate has adapted, became pragmatic, made his England into a grooved defensive unit. Don’t concede. Keep the ball. Be good at set plays. These have been successful and legitimate tactics