England players celebrate their penalty shootout win. (Image: Getty)
It appears there was more to England’s penalty shootout win over Switzerland than the five takers holding their nerve under pressure. The game finished 1-1 after 120 minutes and the Three Lions prevailed 5-3 on spot kicks, with Trent Alexander-Arnold burying the winning penalty into the top corner.
But while the performance again left Southgate and his players facing criticism over a perceived lack of attacking threat, the shootout has taken on an entirely different narrative.
The four takers that preceded Alexander Arnold, namely Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Ivan Toney, were equally clinical as Jordan Pickford’s save from Manuel Akanji proved decisive.
But rather than simply opt for five players he felt would handle the pressure, Southgate reportedly devised a special plan to help each star who stepped up. According to the Athletic, England deployed a ‘buddy system’ to ensure each taker was aptly supported.
After the final whistle, Southgate was seen deep in conversation with Declan Rice, Luke Shaw, Kyle Walker and John Stones. And yet, none of the quartet were required to step up.
But notably, each player was on hand as one of their team-mates went forward, and also on hand to either offer praise or comfort afterwards. Walker was paired with Palmer, Shaw was backing-up Bellingham, Saka was given Stones and Rice teamed with Toney.
Trent Alexander-Arnold buries the winning spot kick. (Image: Getty)
Who was assigned to Alexander-Arnold remains unclear, given he never made it back to halfway. Instead, the Liverpool player was mobbed by team-mates after sending his country though to a semi-final clash with Holland.
Indeed, given his past experiences with penalties as both an England player and manager, Southgate could be forgiven for leaving no stone unturned in his bid to make his takers comfortable. He infamously missed in the semi-final at Euro 96, as England were beaten at the hands of Germany.
And at Euro 2020, England suffered final heartbreak at the hands of Italy, with Saka one player to redeem himself in Dusseldorf after his miss at Wembley. But the tactic has previously been identified by Geir Jordet, author of the book Pressure: Lessons From The Psychology Of The Penalty Shootout.
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“They’ve invented a way to approach this individual event as a collective, team event,” he’s wrote. “They have a structure for preventing the players from going at this alone. A support structure takes down the pressure just a little bit.”
England now have a semi-final with the Netherlands on Wednesday. The Dutch have famously ensured penalty problems at major tournaments, losing in a shootout to Argentina at the 2022 World Cup.
