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There is a bit of Sam Allardyce in the way England has won matches at the World Cup this summer. The Allardyce teams have generally been good in set-pieces and that's an area that the Three Lions have excelled this summer in Russia.
But unlike the recently dismissed Everton manager who had been Gareth Southgate's predecessor the approach to set-pieces was more complex than simply putting his big and strong players in the surface and hoping that any of them would reach the end of the ball.
Of his 11 goals in this tournament, England scored penalties, two of which resulted from corner kicks. Four other goals were completed from corner kick deliveries. Another goal was the result of a well executed free kick routine.
It is clear that Southgate has been working on this particular aspect after England fought against set kicks in the last three major tournaments. 2018 FIFA World Cup: Bristol puts life on hold for Harry Kane's England
It is also crucial that England faces Croatia in the semifinal
The English routine consists of to line up three or four players in the box before a corner. Kane and Harry Maguire are used to these and both were involved on Saturday night when the latter scored.
With Jordan Henderson and Dele Alli scoring in the box, Kane, Maguire, Raheem Sterling and John Stones lined up near the line of demarcation box punishment.
When the delivery arrived, Stones took a few steps to his right to pick up the ball in case he crossed the players in the middle. Both Henderson and Alli rushed forward and dragged their markers away from the ball. Sterling stepped forward but a defender scored him.
Then Kane jumped and was immediately surrounded by two Swedish defenders, with a third not far away.
His defense left Maguire with space behind him. As the Leicester City defender made his big leap, Emil Forsberg, who scored Sterling, tried one last time to reach the ball. His jump was not enough and Maguire scored
It was a routine executed in every detail and in stark contrast to the team's disheveled play pieces two years back at the Championships from Europe to France.
Kane had been in charge of taking turns in this tournament, depriving England of his leading scorer to finish inside the box.
READ | Croatian President wins hearts with victory during victory against Russia
Southgate was able to tackle and improve England's problems and was able to 39, integrate into one of the most deadly elements of his team. teams remaining in the tournament, England has arguably the weakest team on the paper. Their prowess, however, means that they can more than compensate for their technical inferiority compared to other teams.
Luka Modric stressed the same thing when addressing reporters after Croatia missed Russia in the last quarterfinal of the tournament. 19659002] "We have seen how good they are in dead ball situations," he said. "We will have to focus more on the defense sets because we conceded towards the end of the game today from a set-piece and we have to improve this element of our game," remarked Modric.
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