England Get Knocked out of U21 Euros After Italy Capitalise on Old Mistakes

England were knocked out of the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship on Wednesday night when a 3-1 defeat to Italy saw Gareth Southgate’s side finish dead last in their group.

Despite a sprinkling of optimism after a 1-0 win over Sweden on Sunday night, England fell to a determined Italian side through the same old problems that have bothered them since their first day in Prague, Czech Republic: a complete and utter lack of goals.

Southgate has proven to be a manager rarely held back by pride in making a number of changes from one game to the next in this summer’s competition.

On Wednesday, we saw both Danny Ings and John Stones come into the side as England moved towards a 4-4-2 in search of goals.

Southgate’s side had managed just one goal ahead of their third game, and despite England picking up a late winner against Sweden, the 44-year-old coach knew his plan A of safe, defensive football wouldn’t keep them in this tournament.

In Southgate’s defence, new Liverpool signing Ings looked useful when he came on late against Sweden and seemed to bring the best out of Harry Kane—a player who has left much to be desired this summer—by adding another focal point to the English attack.

Suddenly Kane could drift out wide, as he has done for Tottenham over the course of the past year, without having to worry about leaving a large gap or unoccupied space across the Italian defence.

Where Kane would leave, Ings would enter, and it looked like a winning method. Yet that simply wasn’t enough.

England may have had two useful forwards on the pitch, but the lack of a genuine playmaker in the middle of the team meant that both Ings and Kane continuously had to come short just to pick up the ball. As we’ve seen in previous games, the Tottenham star was often found shooting from long distance as options and alternatives looked few and far between.

Unfortunately, playing with two forwards was always going to be a risk at this level against European competition.

Even though England certainly needed more bodies up front, they looked unprepared and overrun in midfield and defence.

Italy chose to play with their typical midfield trio of Lorenzo Crisetig, Danilo Cataldi and Marco Benassi, which made short work of Jake Forster-Caskey and Nathaniel Chalobah throughout the course of the 90 minutes.

Although Italy’s opening goal came through a wonderful set piece which was poked in by the outstretched leg of Andrea Belotti, the Italian’s second—which came just two minutes later—was a goal that saw England concede the entire centre of the pitch to their opponents before an on-running Benassi coolly finished to double his side’s lead.

Of course both goals weren’t entirely the fault of the out-numbered midfield. There was also plenty of fault in England’s defence too.

Southgate’s decision to draft in Stones for Liam Moore seemed like a sensible one at first, considering the Brentford player’s nervous disposition in the opening two games, but what England got from the Everton defender was far from enough.

The marking on set pieces from him and his teammates, which was ultimately what cost England the first and third goals on Wednesday night, not only showcased Belotti and Benassi’s ability in the air but also a very notable absence in England’s setup.

Italy weren’t the first to exploit England in the air this summer, but they certainly made the most of it in this most important of games.

According to WhoScored.com, England lost the game with eight more attempts on goal than their Italian counterparts, yet with the same amount of shots actually on target (four).

Sure, Nathan Redmond grabbed a late goal to double England's tally for the tournament, but it was a wild shot hit in anger and desperation. As Jesse Lingard's against Sweden similarly pointed out, England never actually scored a goal in this summer's competition through simply passing the ball into dangerous areas. 

Southgate’s plan to throw more men forward had ultimately failed, and his side—along with Italy—now leave the tournament with very little to note for the next one. 

The same old problems ended up ruining England’s summer and offered little for Southgate or his successor to work with in two years' time.