England can answer wake-up calls by maintaining width in Swiss showdown

‘It has become quite easy for teams to mark England players out of the game and a formation change would give Switzerland more to think about.’ Illustration: Nathan Daniels

There are three simple ways of playing football: through, over and around. When one of those approaches is not working, it is upon a team to try one of the other two. Doing the same thing again and again in those circumstances is not advantageous because it becomes increasingly easy to defend against. England have found this out and it now looks as if they are going to change.

It has been clear throughout the European Championship that England have had issues with balance. The combination of Kieran Trippier and Phil Foden has not produced what Gareth Southgate might have hoped from an attacking perspective and a change of formation appears to be afoot. It looks likely Southgate will switch to a back three for the ­quarter-final against Switzerland on Saturday.