Southgate’s old ideas leading young England at World Cup

England have an air of youthful exuberance, but Gareth Southgate has relied on some old ideas to guide them to the World Cup semifinals.

It started off as a piece of quintessentially English humor. For weeks, even before the World Cup had kicked off, it was announced football would be coming home, but never without a telling smirk or snigger. The only thing coming home from Russia would be Gareth Southgate and his players, and if they were lucky they would do so having not been humiliated.

But with every passing game, with every win, the utterances of Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds’ 1990s anthem become less ironic. England are now into the semifinals of the World Cup, putting them within two games of pulling off the country’s greatest sporting triumph since 1966. Football might actually be coming home after all.

Southgate’s side have been buoyed by more than just an anthemic pop song, though. They belong in the final four of this World Cup, succeeding where many other more illustrious, more experienced sides have failed in Russia this summer. There has been an element of good fortune to the way the draw has fallen for them, but England have so far passed every test they’ve faced.

Croatia will provide stiffer opposition than the likes of Colombia and Sweden, but there’s reason to believe England will pass this test as well, reaching their first World Cup final in 52 years. They have good players who have found their best form over the past few weeks, with the likes of Harry Kane, Harry Maguire and Kieran Trippier all impressing. But there’s more to the Three Lions’ success.

England have gamed international soccer at this World Cup. Southgate is renowned for his meticulous preparations, with each and every opponent analysed to the nth degree. This meticulousness extends to the identity he has imposed on this England side for this World Cup. They’ve become the ultimate international team.

World Cups are often defined by set-pieces, and so Southgate set about making England the best drilled team at set-pieces at this summer’s tournament. This has manifested itself on the pitch, with England finding the net from a free-kick, corner or penalty in all but one of their World Cup games so far.

Southgate has also recognized the need to move through the lines of midfield and attack at pace. International soccer is often defined by what happens at the back rather than what happens up top. Portugal, for instance, won Euro 2016 on the back of their defensive resilience.

In Tunisia, Panama, Sweden and to a certain extent Colombia, England have faced a number of opposition sides at this World Cup intent on sitting deep, intent on making things tough for the Three Lions’ attackers. By using great final third movers like Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard and Raheem Sterling, though, Southgate has sought to counter this as well, albeit with varied results over the past few games.

Next: The best player on every team at the World Cup

If one method of breaking down an opponent doesn’t work, the other one does, and this double threat from England has made them genuine World Cup contenders. “We’ve got to this point because the collective has been so strong,” Southgate said after the quarterfinal win over Sweden on Saturday.

“To have gone to the depths emotionally and physically in midweek [against Colombia], and controlled this game and withstood the physical test, was a sign of resilience of a young team who are maturing in front of our eyes. But I spoke to the lads today and none of us fancied going home. Now we have to be here another week. It’s up to us now which games we play in.”

This is a distinctly modern England side. They play dynamic soccer, hail from diverse backgrounds and boast social media nous that undoubtedly baffles and bemuses those of an older generation. But Southgate has leaned upon time-honored international soccer concepts in putting together his masterplan.