Game of two halves and Tactical Master class from Manchini.

Game management is a key component in a football match. If you don't react to your mistake and change the way you are playing, you may lose the match initially. This was the key difference between Southgate and Manchini. And Manchini again showed his tactical depth in a big match.

Tactical aspects of the game:

In a glimmer of the tactics used by England, we have to consider how important the score and game state is for the effectiveness of the plan they wish to implement. 

So England could merely have made a better start to this clash. From an Italian corner, Luke Shaw beat pressure from Chiesa before finding Harry Kane. The striker swivelled to open up the field, shifting the play out to Trippier. On the edge of the box, the right wing-back then whipped a cross to the far post where Shaw boomed a volley into the back of the net. England was screaming after two minutes.

The velocity of the initial goal transmitted into the next phase of the game as England posed problems to the Italian defence time and again. Kane, like Olmo, played a central role in advancing the play into the final third.  Nevertheless, the tactical interaction that defined Italy’s struggles in this phase was on the flanks. 

Switching to a 3-4-3 shape from a 4-3-3 setup, Southgate put an extra man at the back. While the change’s implications off the ball were apparent, it also appeared to confuse the Italians defensively too.

Mancini’s men could not generate access to the central defenders in time while closing down the centre of the field. From here, the wide men panned out in no man’s land, retreating unsystematically, leaving the wing-backs as a continual outlet for England to hit. A structural advantage had manifested for Southgate’s men, but ultimately, their strategic inclinations told.

A goal to the good, England persuaded the Italians to conk out their 5-2-3 system.  Southgate’s men can not only fall back on many experiences defending more passively but also know they can cleanly perform this ploy.

On the ball, from their 4-3-3 shape, Italy diverted into their usual 3-2-4-1 offensive structure. Giovanni di Lorenzo remained deep on the right side with the two central defenders to form a base of three at the back. Chiesa then stayed high and wide to his outside. On the left, fullback Emerson pushed up the flank, leaving Lorenzo Insigne to move inside. Thanks to these movements, Nicolò Barella played higher than Marco Verratti and Jorginho in the right halfspace,  creating a box in the midfield. 

Kalvin Phillips frequently leapt out of the midfield line to close down Verratti, while the wingers dropped into a 5-4-1 defensive shape in the last fifteen minutes of the first half. But while England defended, the Italians were short of their best. A recurrent issue for Mancini’s men was the lack of smooth ball circulation. Line-breaking solutions did not occur much due to the deep positioning of the attackers and the ever-retreating nature of the English team. 

But from here, players should have aimed to keep the ball until men got into more advanced positions, moving the block around with dynamic passing sequences. Their impatience to look for options deep or on the far side from the ball was proving costly. Italy faced this issue against the Turks in the group stages but adjusted and modified their approach well to win. Would the same happen here?

Second half:

Italy struggled to get a stranglehold on the match last night. In the build-up, Kane sat on Jorginho. The DMS looked after Veratti and Barella, the wing-backs stopped any threat from the full-backs and England’s back 3 could concentrate on stopping Italy’s front 3.

Italy couldn’t get the ball through midfield. Towards the end of the 1st half, Veratti began dropping deeper than Jorginho in the build-up. He knew Phillips would go with him and Kane probably wouldn’t drop with Jorginho. That began to create a numerical advantage in midfield.

Italy got a foothold in the match. Mancini brought Berardi on for Immobile in the 2nd half. Switching Insigne from the left to a central role accentuated the numbers advantage Italy had begun to create in midfield. He often dropped off the front line into midfield.

We can see all of this in action shortly after the substitution. Veratti drops deep and takes Phillips with him, freeing Jorginho up to push on, knowing Kane won’t drop with him. Italy gets the ball into Jorginho who can now use Insigne as an option to progress possession.

We can see at the bottom of the screen Chiesa, Italy’s best attacker, has switched to the left-wing, the same side as their most attacking full-back Emerson.

The story of the remaining minutes, until Chiesa’s injury, was Italy domination facilitated by the ability to progress the ball through midfield and create overloads on the left flank. If we run this move on Chiesa, with Emerson’s support, finds Insigne and Pickford saves.

A Locatelli and off we go again. 

I was not sure I was going to be able to do that, but the way he'd managed since Verratti's return from injury is incomprehensible to me. 

Another degenerated pass from Bonucci. I hoped some guy will give us a comp on his Euro with a broken line counter ticking away. 

1/ England was waiting for penalties, they’re  at the end of their tether, the players couldn't make the effort anymore, the block didn’t  slide anymore

2/ Bonucci found  the left flank completely open

3/ But Bernardeschi didn't feel the game and didn’t make the call that would have opened up the centre.

In the penalty shoot out, Southgate compelled three young players to take the last three shots and they failed to put the ball in the net. That put a huge question mark on his management, how could he brought some young players in a pressure moment.

Questions will arise over his management of the game as a whole, but the future for this side is still positive. This is a unit on the up, and they should relish their chances at the World Cup.