Defensive football is seen as winning football in the international game but Roberto Mancini’s Italy could change that with their more enterprising approach

When it was put to Gareth Southgate that his full-backs were playing too defensively, it was revealed that he soon reached for the example of France. The 2018 World Cup winners are clearly the template for the England manager and understandably so.

Southgate is a student of the game, more pragmatist than a philosopher, and he has observed what works. Didier Deschamps was criticized for going with Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez in Russia but nobody on the Champs-Elysees was bothered after the final.

This has been the lesson of international football for some time. Spain’s front six that won the 2010 World Cup final included five of the same players who would start the Champions League final for Barcelona against Manchester United the following year.

The one difference was that with Vicente Del Bosque unable to call upon Lionel Messi, he sat Xabi Alonso in front of the defense instead. All four knockout games were won by the same 1-0 scoreline. Often sterile but always in control.

The message: this is how winning is done.

It is not just history that is written by the winners but the future too. With that in mind, perhaps fans of the international game should be cheering on Italy now. Roberto Mancini has shown that the possibility of a more expansive approach remains. There is another way.

Italy is the only team at Euro 2020 to win all three of their group games without conceding a goal but it has been anything but conservative. They boast the best goal difference, have had the most shots, and have attempted the most through-balls at the tournament.

Source: Skysport.