Perhaps the most worrying part of England’s performance against Tunisia was the fact that after a blistering start, their tempo dropped somewhat in the second half and they began to move the ball far more slowly than they had done earlier in the game. Some would blame Tunisia’s controversial equaliser for this, but then England’s pace remained high after it right until the half-time whistle.
This was similar to their performance in their pre-tournament friendly against Nigeria – in that case the Super Eagles were completely outclassed for the first 45 minutes before coming back to give England a real scare, largely because the Three Lions allowed the pace to drop. Whether this was due to tiredness or an instruction from Southgate is a question mark, but it’s simply not a good idea to allow it to happen.
Against Panama – in hopefully cooler temperatures than they faced against Tunisia – it’s important for Southgate’s men to keep that heavy tempo up and really make their opponents work hard. England are finally blessed with fleet-footed players who can also keep possession well, so they need to make sure that heavy-pressing, rapid style of play doesn’t drop in the second 45 minutes. If that means Southgate needs to make earlier substitutions, then so be it.