England 2 Slovakia 1: Euro 2024 tactical analysis

England snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to progress to the Euro 2024 quarter finals at Slovakia’s expense. Gareth Southgate’s team were 86 seconds away from exiting the competition on the back of a desperately tepid performance, when Jude Bellingham equalised with a sensational overhead kick to breathe hope into their campaign. Harry Kane then headed home in the first minute of extra-time to complete the turnaround, setting up a last-eight meeting with Switzerland.

England carried the lethargy of their poor group-stage performances into the opening minutes of this knockout tie. Indeed, Slovakia had four opportunities in the early stages of the game, creating chances seemingly with ease against a vulnerable-looking England. It came as no surprise when Ivan Schranz got in behind to slot the opener past Jordan Pickford, and England were duly booed off at half-time in Gelsenkirchen. 

There was some improvement in the second half, including Phil Foden slotting home a Kieran Trippier pass shortly after the break. The Manchester City attacker had mistimed his run, however, and the goal was disallowed following a VAR review. Slovakia then had a golden chance to double their lead when Bellingham played a short free-kick to John Stones, who wasn’t paying attention, to present David Strelec with a chance to shoot at an open goal from just inside England’s half. Pickford was stranded outside the penalty area, but breathed a sigh of relief when Strelec’s shot went narrowly wide.

It was a near-calamity that summed up England’s Euro 2024 so far. So close to it all going wrong, and yet still just about alive and kicking thanks to Bellingham’s brilliance in converting a flick on from a long throw.

How the managers saw it

“Slovakia are a good team,” said Southgate. “It took us a long time to work out how to get through their pressure, and you’ve got to be patient to do that. There’s anxiety in the stadium when you’re behind, too. In the second half, we did that better and we were probing and kept being patient. The players that came in had an impact, but in the end, we were relying on a long throw to be the moment.”

“We were really good, we conceded very little, and we came very close to qualifying,” said Slovakia manager Francesco Calzona. “It’s a pity. But then we didn’t fall apart in the extra-time. We spent 30 minutes in their half, and it’s a source of pride to see that a team like that brought in defenders and defensive midfielders just to get a result.”

Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches highlight the key tactical points from this Euro 2024 round-of-16 clash…

England’s right side

From an initial 4-2-3-1 shape, England’s right side started the game with much more purpose and fluidity of movement compared to the left. There, with Phil Foden narrowing, England often had only an isolated Trippier advancing from left-back. On the right, Bukayo Saka held the width, typically joined by an advancing Kyle Walker. Initial number 10 Bellingham widened into the right inside channel (below) working with Kobbie Mainoo to combine and progress forward. This resulted in early crosses from Saka and Walker.

When pressing high and defending in a mid-block, Slovakia converted into a 4-4-2, as left number eight Ondrej Duda jumped out to join Strelec in the first line. This contributed to England finding space on their right side, as single pivot Stanislav Lobotka was forced to cover both Mainoo and Bellingham (below). However, Duda could recover back when Slovakia’s left winger Lukáš Haraslín jumped to Walker, while left-back Dávid Hancko followed Saka’s dropping. Slovakia’s wide pressing trap soon began to nullify England’s right side.

With the ball, Slovakia also targeted England’s right side with quick and direct counter-attacks, making use of Haraslín’s pace and directness against Walker (below). Short passes from the back also helped draw England’s front line higher – especially Foden – before Slovakia played long passes over Mainoo and Declan Rice. These passes initially targeted Slovakia’s right inside channel. This worked to draw Stones and Marc Guéhi across, taking advantage of Trippier’s high press behind Foden, and further isolating Walker against Haraslín.

It was from one of these long passes into the right inside channel that Slovakia attacked to take the lead. Juraj Kucka beat both Stones and Guehi to a header that found Strelec, who coolly played in Schranz – running from midfield – to open the scoring. 

Breaking Slovakia’s block

Slovakia pressed much less in the second half, preferring to form a mid-block. At the same time, England’s passing tempo increased, with Bellingham making more runs between and often ahead of Saka and Kane. In response, Slovakia increased their defensive cover on this side, which opened up switches to the left for England (below). From there, a much higher Trippier crossed for the narrow and, unfortunately for England, offside Foden to tap in.

Southgate’s first change saw Saka move to left-back, replacing the injured Trippier, with Cole Palmer brought on to the right wing. Saka held the width as England tried to break Slovakia’s block, with Palmer doing similar on England’s right. The Chelsea attacker also rotated with Bellingham on his side, supported with late runs from deep by Walker.

On the left, Foden stayed as a 10, with Saka on the outside. One of Rice or Mainoo dropped alongside the two centre-backs, forming a trio to nullify Slovakia’s press when Duda jumped out. Rice got forward to hit a post from range and Kane headed just wide, as England searched for an equaliser.

Southgate waited until the 84th minute to make his first tactical substitution, introducing Eberechi Eze for Mainoo, and then Ivan Toney for Foden four minutes into added time. Toney in particular was afforded a little more time to make an impact thanks to Bellingham’s equaliser.

Seeing extra-time out

Kane’s extra-time goal came from the second phase of a corner, converting from a Toney header across the box. It would prove to be England’s second and final attempt on target in the game, as Southgate switched to a 5-3-2 structure (below).

For the first half of extra-time, England placed Kane and Toney as a centre-forward pairing. They linked together, receiving direct passes from a back-line trio of Walker, Stones and Guéhi. Eze filled in at left wing-back, with Saka at right wing-back. Bellingham and Palmer covered ahead of Rice in a three-man midfield, with England happy to concede space and form a mid-block.

Conor Gallagher came on for Kane for the final period of extra-time. He played alongside Rice, with Ezri Konsa introduced at left-back as Bellingham came off. That meant England switched to a 5-4-1 shape. In response, Slovakia added another central forward to work around England’s three centre-backs, and converted to a back-three system of their own. Lobotka still conducted play as the single pivot, with the wing-backs and number-eight pairings looking to overload England’s full-backs, while also providing runs around the centre-forwards from direct, forward passes.

The result was that the game was mostly played in England’s half as extra-time played out. Peter Pekarík nearly converted a cross from substitute László Bénes, but England survived to book their quarter-final place.

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