Euro 2020’s flying full-backs show risk-free football is not the only path to victory

There is always a danger of fighting the last war. In March, after England’s uninspiring 2-1 win over Poland, Gareth Southgate spoke of France and Portugal, respectively the world and European champions, as models, referring to them as “savvy and experienced winners”. Which is perhaps a polite way of saying a little bit boring. But then most successful international sides are, based on the construction of a solid base and a couple of gifted creators who can extemporise upon that – or at least they have been.

The sophisticated models that dominate at elite club level take time to instil. To press effectively in the modern game takes weeks of repetitions on the training ground so that players know instinctively when to hunt the ball and when to ease off. And pressing is pointless if it isn’t coherent: it’s just players running about. It works only if conducted in packs: one or two men to the man in possession, a wave of others blocking off his options, either by closing down opponents or the passing lanes.

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The logic over the past decade or so was that sustained and consistent pressing was essentially impossible for national teams – unless, like Chile under Marcelo Bielsa, you had the same squad of players together for years or, like South Korea under Guus Hiddink, you had lengthy training camps to provide the requisite time. The tendency, as manifested in France and Portugal, was for teams to sit deep and, if they used a back four, to have the full-backs play far more cautiously than they would in elite club football.

France and Portugal are still playing in essentially the same way as they did – although so far not especially impressively. Against far lesser opposition, England, the diligent pupil, have looked more secure, one of two sides to complete the group stages without conceding. Low blocks remain common. Sweden, familiar 4-4-2 intact, have, bar a 25-minute wobble in the second half against Poland, been impressively unruffled. Finland were predictably solid. Slovakia, playing a mystifying system with two false nines and a static midfield, got lucky against Poland before finally taking the hammering it had seemed due against Spain.

Spain, meanwhile, seem more themselves the more Luis Enrique tries to change them. They have the joint third-best xG against per game, and let in a single goal, but did so not by sitting deep but by holding possession. Their total of 2,129 completed passes is 13% more than anybody else at this stage – and they also have the highest success rate with their pressing, a reminder that possession football is not just about retaining the ball but regaining it.

But elsewhere there are early signs, perhaps, that a challenge is rising to the reactivity that has dominated for the past decade. The first indications came at the 2018 World Cup, which was a far more open and progressive tournament than the two World Cups that had preceded it. Belgium have retained the 3-4-3 shape that got them to the semi-final in Russia and, while their defence is older, slower and clearly missing the retired Vincent Kompany, their front seven is as attractive as ever.

Rickety as their defence may be, the extra man at the back – in combination with Axel Witsel at the back of midfield (which is why his fitness is so vital) – liberates the wide defenders. Germany, belatedly and chaotically, have followed a similar logic, although they have the problem that by far their best real holding midfielder, Joshua Kimmich, is also their best right-wing-back.

Frank De Boer had faced opposition for his use of a back three from Dutch purists, but his 3-4-1-2 so far has worked – with the caveat that the Netherlands were in probably the weakest group and that they very nearly fell apart against Ukraine in the opening game. Denzel Dumfries tearing forward from right-wing-back has been one of the defining images of the tournament so far, and nobody has attempted more pressures in the final third than the Netherlands. At international level, it has begun to feel that a back three is a way of incorporating attacking full-backs.

But most impressive so far have been Italy, who won all three group games without conceding, while pressing in a 4-3-3 and having their left-back, Leonardo Spinazzola, play gleefully high. The midfield, with Jorginho holding and distributing from deep, Nicolò Barella creating and Manuel Locatelli (who may step aside for Marco Verratti) shuttling between them, has a pleasing harmony and there is a threat from two wide forwards drifting infield. They have the verve and balance of a club side, which suggests that with a driven and high-class manager such as Roberto Mancini and a gifted squad (perhaps crucially with no overwhelming star), international football can be about more than low blocks and fear.

For a long time, national teams represented the highest form of the game. Then it began to lag behind the club game before, 10-15 years ago as sophisticated pressing took over at elite clubs, becoming effectively a different version of the sport. Major tests remain for Italy, and their 30-game unbeaten run they faced only one side in the top 15 in the Fifa world rankings, but they perhaps are an example of how international football can still be informed by the club game. The knockouts could reinforce the status quo, but it may be that a risk-free low block is no longer enough.