"They aren't very good at moving the ball" - Sweden scout explains how to beat England

An advisor to Sweden’s national team has explained that England are ‘too slow’ and can be beaten in the quarter-final match

England defeated Colombia on penalties to secure passage to the quarter-finals, but lost to Belgium and their only victories have come against Panama and Tunisia in the group stages.

The England public appear to have installed their country as favourites to reach the World Cup final, and many expect them to achieve a comfortable victory when they meet Sweden on Saturday.

READ MORE: Djokovic ‘will end Edmund’s Wimbledon dream’ says SW19 legend

READ MORE: The 32: Colombian petition labelled a ‘nonsense’ by Mick McCarthy

READ MORE: The 32: ‘Humble’ England a credit to Gareth Southgate

Sweden, however, have enjoyed a promising start to the World Cup too. They defeated Switzerland 1-0 in a resolute performance in their last game, and defeated Mexico 3-0 in the group stages.

Gareth Southgate’s side will go into the Sweden game as favourites, but will have to be wary of their streetwise opponents.

Now an advising to the national team, scout Tom Prahl, has spoken to Sweden’s media to explain England’s weaknesses, strengths, and how they can be beaten. Prahl pointed out that England move the ball more slowly than their Southern European peers:

ENGLAND V COLOMBIA – FANS GALLERY

“In terms of weaknesses, they aren’t very good at moving the ball quick — not like teams from southern Europe.

“They’ve not been under that much pressure. I think their opposition has backed off quite a bit, so they’ve been given the opportunity to move it nice and slow.

“So that is a big question for me — whether they’ll be able to open us up if we press them higher, and what would be the effects on our own game. We’ll find out.”

However, he praised England for adapting their game from a more direct approach to something more sophisticated, partly by changing their formation to three at the back:

“England isn’t just long balls forward and kick and rush, but much more influenced by the rest of Europe. They keep a lot of players centrally and use a back three, but they also have much more method to their build-up.

“They’ve also kept their more traditional attributes, with toughness and physicality. They’ve scored six out of their nine goals on set plays, so we’re aware of that.”

England will meet Sweden at 3pm GMT on Saturday.