Gareth Southgate's England already resembling Liverpool

England beat Lithuania 2-0 in Gareth Southgate’s second game in charge of the team. However, the Three Lions are – for better or worse – resembling Liverpool so far.

England have a win and a loss so far under Gareth Southgate. Ironically, it was the performance in the 1-0 defeat to Germany that was most impressive. A 2-0 win over Lithuania was job done, but much closer than it should be.

Southgate put two different teams, two different formations, out for both games. That shows that he at least understands that these were two very different games, with two different approaches necessary.

Germany were always going to play out from the back and dominate possession, so pressing high was a good tactic. Whereas Lithuania were always going to have very little of the ball, and were more hopeful of just keeping a clean sheet or keeping the score down.

So against Germany, to press high, Southgate played with three forwards and the pacy, energetic Jamie Vardy leading the line. Against Lithuania, Southgate went a more orthodox formation, with the veteran poacher Jermain Defoe upfront.

But whilst Vardy and Co. gave Germany all they could handle, England struggled to truly break down a defensive Lithuania. What if a better team than Lithuania decided to give England some respect and defend deep? That game would have been a real struggle.

In just two games – it is still early in Southgate’s reign – England are so far resembling Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp’s team are hell to deal with if you try to play out from the back and allow them to press you and force mistakes. Just like England vs. Germany.

But if you hand the Reds the ball and ask them to break you down, it’s not so bad. Comparatively, they struggle to create chances versus when they are forcing errors to make goalscoring opportunities.

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That was the difference between the England that played against Germany and the England that beat Lithuania. Now, granted, Southgate did switch up his team and approach for each game. He did understand that the challenge was different.

Klopp generally goes with the same tactics and formation regardless of the opposition. So at least Southgate was trying to adapt. But it’s clearly going to take time for Southgate to find the right personnel for each situation.

Defoe being in the team was a good move. England didn’t need young legs to press for the ball against Lithuania. But they did need more creativity. A lot of the forward players are technically good individuals, but do they create for others?

Dele Alli is a goalscoring midfielder, Adam Lallana and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain keep things ticking over in the midfield area. Eric Dier is a defensive midfielder. Raheem Sterling created the opening goal for Defoe, but is inconsistent, too.

Next: Liverpool confident of signing James Rodriguez

Southgate needs to find a team that can consistently open up compact teams like Lithuania. The youthful lineup for the big games already looks to be on the right lines. But without the lineup for games against defensive teams also, England just end up looking like Liverpool.

For better or worse.

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Gareth Southgate’s England already resembling Liverpool – and not in a good way

By Craig Pearson | Mar 26, 2017

England beat Lithuania 2-0 in Gareth Southgate’s second game in charge of the team. However, the Three Lions are – for better or worse – resembling Liverpool so far.

More from The Top Flight