England manager must stop putting square pegs in round holes

England’s status as favorites to win the 2024 European Championship in Germany looked extremely precarious as they struggled to secure a 1-0 victory over Serbia on Sunday.

Jude Bellingham’s opening goal proved to be the difference between the two sides, but the Three Lions looked anything but potential Euro 2024 winners.

On the other hand, a strong case can be made for either Germany or Spain to win, given how they have won the tournament so far.

At the center of England’s problems is manager Gareth Southgate, whose lack of tactical acumen continues to be a major Achilles heel for the team.

Two Newcastle United players were among those to suffer the most as England huffed and puffed against tough Serbian opposition.

Kieran Trippier was selected to start at left-back, with Manchester United’s Luke Shaw not deemed fit enough to start the match after a long spell out.

The Newcastle star was quite solid defensively, but his reluctance to use his left foot hampered England’s attacking abilities on the left flank.

Given that Shaw is unlikely to feature until the knockout stage if England progress, Southgate’s decision not to pick another specialist left-back is puzzling.

In the spirit of trying to fit square pegs into round holes, Southgate doubled down by taking on Manchester City’s Phil Foden on the left flank.

With Jude Bellingham a guaranteed starter in Foden’s preferred number ten role, the Man City star has been moved to the left side of the England attack.

The move did not yield the desired results, with Foden struggling to get involved in the game and Trippier providing little support.

Southgate inexplicably kept Foden on the pitch for the entire match, leaving Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon and Crystal Palace winger Eberechi Eze clicking their heels on the bench.

Either player would be a better option than Foden given they are more comfortable playing in that position. However, Southgate seems unable to recognize it.

His foolish selections continued elsewhere on the pitch as Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold was given another chance to show why he is not a midfielder.

England’s so-called ‘best passer’ is not up to the task of playing in the center of the park, particularly when it comes to controlling the game.

Former Newcastle star Alan Shearer identified the problem as a co-commentator on the BBC, imploring Southgate to introduce someone better suited to lead proceedings.

Minutes after Shearer’s comment, Southgate replaced Alexander-Arnold with Conor Gallagher. The Chelsea midfielder is a willing worker, but controlling the pace is not one of his strengths.

With Gallagher running around like a headless chicken, the response to England’s control problems was to impatiently hope that Southgate would remember that he had included him in the team.

Adam Wharton has quickly risen through the ranks over the past two years. He made his mark with Blackburn Rovers in the Championship before signing for Palace in January.

He immediately felt at home in the Premier League and was superb on his England debut in a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Wharton skeptics claim he doesn’t have the experience to play in a major tournament, but that view ignores the fact that he is a generational talent.

If England are to have any chance of winning Euro 2024, Southgate must stop putting players in unfavorable positions.