The Guardian: Southgate’s rigid substitutions prove an obstacle for England’s march to the final

In the Euro 1/8 final, Scekic opened the scoring, Bellingham equalized in stoppage time, and Kane scored the winning goal in extra time, as England dramatically overturned a 1-0 deficit to beat Slovakia 2-1. In an article for The Guardian, journalist Jacob Steinberg criticized Southgate for his inflexible substitutions, which he sees as a significant issue for the team.

Steinberg commented: “In a lopsided and chaotic match, Southgate had ample reason to exaggerate the impact of his changes. In truth, with England trailing, Southgate stood still, doing nothing and reacting too slowly to substitute Bellingham or Harry Kane. He waited too long to introduce Ivan Toney to unsettle Slovakia’s center-backs. Or perhaps he believed in Bellingham and Kane’s match-winning abilities. He brought on Toney only at the death. He knew all along that Walker, who had endured possibly the worst game of his career, would remain on the pitch – he was England’s Rory Delap.

“He refused to use Anthony Gordon on the left, nor did he bring on Trent Alexander-Arnold when England’s main tactic late on was to aim for high crosses. Southgate was fortunate. He can argue that Eze’s introduction in the 84th minute helped set up Kane’s winner and later worked hard in an unfamiliar defensive role. He could contend that Palmer’s free-kick led to England’s second goal; Toney, as a target man, disrupted Slovakia and provided the assist for Kane’s decisive strike; and had Alexander-Arnold played, there might not have been Walker’s long-range effort.”

“Unless England stumbles its way to Berlin (the final venue) through some strange and inexplicable victories, Southgate’s selections, tactics, and in-game substitutions will ultimately catch up with them. Even Southgate acknowledged that Toney was unhappy to be brought on in the dying seconds. Given the outcome, why weren’t changes made earlier? Slovakia struggled to cope with Toney, and it’s hard not to think that if the Brentford forward had come on in the 75th minute, England might have sealed the win within regulation time.”