England have incredibly reached their first major tournament final since 1966 and are one step away from breaking a massive barrier for English football.
Before the tournament opinions on England’s chances were split, and even after their first two group games there were massive questions about the creativity of the side and team selection.
Fast forward three weeks and social media is flooded with “It’s coming home”, men with bleach blonde hair and Atomic Kitten are confessing their love for Gareth Southgate.
Meanwhile, Italy have extended an incredible unbeaten run to 33 matches which is the longest unbeaten run in their history.
Roberto Mancini’s men are more dynamic than Italy teams of the past, but still have a rock solid defence and can still play a trademark long pass to open defences.
Home advantage could prove vital
So how do England win their first major tournament in 55 years?
Raheem Sterling
There is no other place to start. Raheem Sterling has arguably been the player of the tournament and England need him in this fixture.
He has been the creative spark in the majority of England’s play.
He has been central to everything England have done and it would be hard to think where England would be without him.
Three weeks ago, he wouldn’t have been the first player on the team sheet for many England fans before the tournament.
Sterling finished the season with 10 league goals, which isn’t bad but he won the league with Man City and wasn’t as prolific as in previous seasons.
Phil Foden also played less minutes than him in the same side and scored 9 goals.
Jack Grealish had also caught the eye at Aston Villa, often controlling games by himself and taking on the creative workload for the whole side.
There were big calls from fans online, calling for Sterling to be dropped and to start Grealish.
Gareth Southgate kept faith in Sterling who has caused problems for opponents by cutting in with darting runs and creating chances, or scoring tap-ins with good attacking movement.
Against Denmark it is his attacking movement that caused Simon Kjaer to slide the ball into his own net and deep into extra time showed he still had the legs to keep playing.
He is bound to play a key roll against Italy, with pace to burn against a strong but ageing back line.
The Italian Centre-backs
Italy are famously known for having a rock solid defence and have been throughout history.
Conceding to Austria in the round of 16 saw the end of a clean sheet streak lasting 1,168 minutes of football, which was a new world record for an international team.
They have conceded a goal in both games since then, against Belgium and Spain.
Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini have been such an effective partnership over the years for both Juventus and Italy but there is a weakness.
With age the pair are only getting slower and despite their brilliance, this can be exploited.
Morata’s goal for Spain highlighted this against Italy, when he ran at the defence.
The full-backs aren’t the fastest either, with the exception of Emerson who often doesn’t start.
Chances to exploit this will be few and far between because Italy’s defence often plays in a low block, but with an abundance of pacey wingers and especially Sterling’s runs inside it is possible for England to take advantage.
Team Spirit
It is very difficult to be able to quantify this, but it is clear to see the squad has gelled much better than in previous tournaments under Gareth Southgate.
There are players from a mixture of clubs who have bonded well, despite competing fiercely against each other in the league.
Previous generations of England players, like Gerrard, Lampard, and Ferdinand have been outspoken about the lack of chemistry they had for England.
In contrast, the current back line often consists of Kyle Walker and John Stones of Manchester City, with Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw of Manchester United.
Despite playing for rival clubs they couldn’t be better as a unit.
They have conceded one goal for the whole tournament and that was a direct freekick, setting a new record for most consecutive games in a Euros tournament without conceding a goal (5).
The team chemistry has been captured in vlogs like this one on England’s Youtube channel:
Adaptability
Throughout the tournament the team has shown the flexibility to be able to play a back four or a back three with wing-backs.
The pace of Walker and Shaw allows for support going forward or cover for the centre-backs in defence.
Southgate normally opts to match the opponent’s formation at the back so will probably play a back four against Italy.
They have also shown adaptability in terms of substitutes, with Jack Grealish playing a major role in the two goals against Germany after coming on with 20 minutes left.
Against Denmark, Grealish was substituted off in extra time so Southgate could change the formation to a back five to see out the rest of the match when 2-1 up.
In a final, this quality could prove the decider if England are to win, as there are few squads in international football who have such depth in quality and versatility.
Hawkinsport 