England: Just Like Watching The Toon

If you watched Thomas Tuchel’s England side grind their way to a stodgy 0-0 draw against Ghana you probably experienced a wave of déjà vu.

High Resistance to a Low Block

England and Newcastle have a glaring thing in common: an inability to break down a low block. Even with 78% possession England could hardly muster a shot on traget.

Just like watching Toon games, England pased it sideways, back, out to the wings, back again... then rinse and repeat. When a cross did come in it invariably found a Ghana boot or head or was overhit. And when the odd chance came... it was missed.

"It's just like watching the Toon, just like watching the Toon".

The Inverted Winger Trap

Against Ghana, Tuchel started Anthony Gordon and Noni Madueke on the flanks.

What happened? The wingers ran down the exact same dead-end streets all night.

Because both are inverted wingers, their natural instinct is to cut inside, outside-to-in, right into the congested, crowded area around the D.

This is the exact same tactical cul-de-sac Newcastle ran into last season.

When Gordon was playing on the left and Harvey Barnes on the right, they naturally tend to move inside instead of getting to the byeline on the outside.

That means they run into a pack of defenders facing forward, when getting to the byeline leaves defenders facing their goal - a far harder position to defend from.

The inverted winger tactic worked well when full backs expected wingers to take them on on the outside. When left wingers were left footed and right wingers right footed.

In fact, the FB's tactic was to "show them outside" because that was seen as less dangerous than allowing the winger to come in and directly attack the goal.

Not now.

Just like a sheepdog herds ewes into a pen, FB's now herd wingers into the low block trap of a pen of defenders. There is no point bleating about it - wingers are getting the wool pulled over their eyes and being sticthed up. ((I'll get my sheepskin coat!).

The Slow Build Up Trap

A low block deprives you of quick transitions.

That was the devastating tactic that Newcastle used in Eddie Howe's early seasons when his 4-3-3 with two out and out wingers and speed merchant Isak could turn defence into an attack and goal in seconds.

At the same time. even the bottom half teams were trying to play out from defence ala Man City and Arsenal, which played right into Eddie's high press tactic.

However, a glut of mistakes from goalkeepers and defenders without the technical ability to play 'City style' led to some farcical mistakes and goals conceded and managers quickly reverted to a longer ball game.

That left fewer chances to high press and the low block left far less space to exploit on a quick transition. Eddie and the team have struggled to come up with a new formation and tactics to overcome that - and it looks like Tuchel hasn't solved it either.

How Do We Fix It?

Newcastle and England have proven that pace alone doesn't beat a low block.

We need technical creators who can play in tight spaces, interchange accurate passes to draw defenders out of position, and then make the killer pass to forwards who convert a high % of chances.

That's exactly what Man City do.

I'm not deluding myself that we can pluck those type of signings out of thin air, but if the recruitment team sign like for like replacements and Eddie persists with last season's tactics... why would they or we expect different results?

Let's face it - our so called 'best in the Prem midfield' couldn't unlock a low block- so whilst individually Bruno, Tonal and Jo are all very good players, collectively as a unit there is something missing.

Plus, is it time to bin inverted wingers?

These are the questions and answers that Eddie and Ross Wilson should have discussed and in turn identified the type of player needed to transform the squad and playing style.

Doing the same thing and expecting different results is the first sign of madness.

And... it would be mad of Eddie and Wilson to start the new season with 'like for like' new signings and the same tactics as last season.

A fresh start is needed before we become even more stale.

And talking of going stale... when will we sign our next player?

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