Czech Republic vs England, Euro 2020 Qualifiers: 4 Things we learned from the match

Ferdie
A fully deserved win for the Czech against a lacklustre England
A fully deserved win for the Czech against a lacklustre England

#3 England loses the midfield battle

England were outnumbered and outrun in midfield
England were outnumbered and outrun in midfield

The midfield pivot set out by Gareth Southgate struggled all game against a packed midfield from the Czech. Rice and Henderson were simply outnumbered and received little support from their attackers who were too occupied with trying to run beyond the striker to really support their midfield duo.

On the other hand, led by Darida, the Czech midfield were magnificent. Soucek and Kral harassed the England attackers and seamlessly linked midfield and attack. Not only were they constantly outnumbering the England midfield, but they successfully navigated England's poor attempts to press them.

On occasion, it seemed like England had forgotten how to play and the Czech trio ran the show. They easily found Patrick Schick who mixed up the play with some good holding up as well as showing his ability to turn and run at the England defence causing them trouble.

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