Kane’s movement, the wide players’ pace and substitutions could bring joy for Southgate, Euro 2020’s best chess player
Romelu Lukaku found out the hard way how good Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci are. The Belgium striker tried to get the better of Italy’s veteran centre-backs by going right up against them but they thrive on such tactics, and even someone who has scored 50 goals for club and country in the past year was kept quiet.
Chiellini and Bonucci have 219 caps between them so know a thing or two about how to defend at this level, ensuring Lukaku’s best chance came from the penalty spot. They like everything in front of them – they want to bully strikers, get round their ankles, kick and hustle them. England need to find a way of making them uncomfortable and something that makes most defenders twitch is an opponent with lightning pace.
Related: Mancini and Southgate set the example other countries should follow | Philipp Lahm
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