Gareth Southgate suggests he will take fewer defenders to Euro 2020

A return to the back four has freed up some space in the squad

Gareth Southgate has suggested he may take fewer defenders to the Euros this summer than he has been selecting in recent squads. During his tenure with England, Southgate has switched between systems, opting for a back three at the World Cup before moving to 4-3-3, then back to 3-4-3, and now a 4-2-3-1, the very first system he used in 2016. The adaptability of the squad is something the manager values highly, and with versatile defenders such as Kyle Walker and Luke Shaw, he seems confident enough to take just the eight defenders, knowing he can rely on them to switch between systems without running out of centre-back options.

"We have some players who can play in more than one position," Southgate said.

"In Russia, we played Walker in a back three. Shaw has played in a back three for Manchester United, Chilwell has as well [for Chelsea].

"It’s not essential to have more than eight defenders and the more we take the less we have in other areas of the pitch we might want to refresh. We’ve got to have enough to cover ourselves but we also have to get that balance right across every position.

Formation

"Heading into Russia we were very clear we were going to be 3-5-2 and that we were going to pick the players to fit that system," he explained.

"We’re a bit more fluid and adaptable now and we’d like to cover some different possibilities. We have some exciting wide players and players who can come in off the line and play as an attacking 8 or 10. We’ve got to find a way of getting them into the squad..

Asked whether he ha decided on a system, Southgate said: "Some of that is going to depend a little bit on availability of certain players. We’ve got to have that flexibility. Ideally you want to get attacking players on the pitch and that’s harder with a back three. But there is that balance of making sure we are not open at the back."

Against Poland, England started with a back four, before reverting to a back three (five) after Harry Maguire scored the winning goal, with Reece James coming on to play as a wing-back and Walker tucking in to form a back three, demonstrating that flexibility Southgate talks about.