England have been working on a back three in training ahead of the Euro 2024 quarter-final against Switzerland, with Kyle Walker moved to the right of centre-half and Bukayo Saka potentially playing as left-back. Gareth Southgate is now actively considering changing, in what could yet be a decisive mid-tournament change.
The manager had been fretting about how his initial system hadn’t been working in four laboured displays so far, but a number of factors have forced him to finally work on something different in the build-up to the Switerland game.
The primary reason was a required change to the defence anyway, with Marc Guehi suspended after a second booking of the tournament in the 2-1 win over Slovakia.
That has compounded existing uncertainty, over the inability of the attack to click and how opposition sides have been getting England.
Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa is set to come into the team but Southgate is conscious of putting such responsibility on him ahead of a huge match without greater protection, so is now mulling whether to just put him on the left of a three-man central line, with Walker on the right and John Stones in the centre.
Luke Shaw would be the preferred option on the left but, with the full-backs fitness still being assessed, Saka offers another option. The choice would also give Southgate further flexibility further forward, and maybe even allow a badly-needed balance to the team.
The England staff haven’t yet settled on the decision, but there was extensive work on Wednesday afternoon. The decision would also mean Southgate goes full circle, as that was the formation he used in his first tournament, in the semi-final run to 2018.