The key differences between Tuchel and Southgate's England teams

The most obvious change since Tuchel's appointment has been his willingness to leave star names out of the squad.

At times during Euro 2024, Southgate's England had Phil Foden on the left wing, Cole Palmer in attacking midfield and Trent Alexander-Arnold in holding midfield.

Tuchel left all three out of his World Cup squad.

In simple terms, this can be explained as Tuchel taking a system-first approach while Southgate took a player-first approach.

Tuchel decided on a clear system and a set of tactics he wanted to use, then looked at the players who could best carry out the roles he wanted - irrespective of name.

It is one of the reasons Morgan Rogers - more suited to what Tuchel wants from his number 10 - was picked over Foden and Palmer.

Southgate appeared to look at the best individuals he could select before trying to build a system around them, and at times was questioned for shoehorning players into roles they were not perfect fits for.

That is partly why we saw changes to the starting XI and system mid-tournament under Southgate.

Both approaches have proved successful throughout football and come with their own pros and cons.

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Slide 1 of 3, Screengrab from England's equaliser from the Euro 2024 final. This still shows Saka passing the ball between two defenders, annotated with an arrow, into Jude Bellingham. , Looking at England's equaliser in the Euro 2024 final, the ability of individual players - profiled properly - to come up with solutions was clear. First, Bukayo Saka - from this one-against-two situation - was able to thread a pass into Jude Bellingham in the box

That game, in particular, highlighted two clear differences to the Southgate era.

The first being the speed of play through the middle third.

Southgate's sides, perhaps more traditionally, built up short - looking to progress the ball more slowly. They wanted to keep the ball, move up the pitch as a unit before - when pinning the opposition in their own third - trying to break down the low block.

That worked particularly well against teams who conceded control and were reluctant to press high.

But with football always developing, games towards the end of Southgate's reign featured England facing increasingly clever defensive tactics. We saw braver mid-blocks and, at times, teams pressing higher. This is in line with the rise in man-to-man pressure we've seen become more common in club football.

The second difference was the manner in which the team looked to solve tactical dilemmas.

For Tuchel, clever and more aggressive defensive tactics are countered through specific patterns and planned solutions.

Against Croatia, as England passed the ball backwards, Declan Rice moved into a wide-left position vacating the centre of the pitch for Harry Kane to drop into alongside Elliot Anderson. Bellingham pushed forward into the last line.

These movements were automatic but worked to undo Croatia's press. After bringing Croatia up the pitch, the moves ended with Kane or Anderson playing it long into Bellingham, Anthony Gordon or Noni Madueke.

Coaches prescribe solutions for players, who are selected to execute those ideas. That is put in a simplistic way, but is the Tuchel way.

Southgate, when faced with a similar mid-block shape, would rely on the players he'd selected to solve the problem in a more intuitive manner.

This approach was harder for opponents to prepare for, with Alexander-Arnold and Kobbie Mainoo able to come up with different ways to progress the ball - but without specific direction, players could become stuck against well-prepared defences in an increasingly tactical sport.

The rotation England used against Croatia, of course, won't be a surprise for their next opponents.

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Slide 1 of 2, Screengrab from England vs Switzerland in Euro 2024. This shows Switzerland's low defensive block, in part forced by England's slower build-up play. Their 5-4-1 shape is shown through circles around players and yellow lines connecting them. , This was a common situation England found themselves in under Southgate. By building up slowly, and moving up the pitch as a unit, they pushed teams close to their own goal before then trying to break them down

In the coaching world, there is a maxim some believe in - that teams are built in the image of their coaches.

Southgate was impressively able to steady the ship before pushing them extremely close to glory. He did so in a highly pragmatic manner. His sides didn't create end-to-end affairs as though it might have increased their chances of scoring, it would also have increased the likelihood of them turning the ball over and conceding.

By reducing variance and keeping the game tight, eventually England's quality would shine through. Against top-level quality, their collective tactical ideas could appear undercooked.

When they did go ahead, one critique was they would look to defend their lead rather than build it - just look at the Euro 2020 final as one example.

Tuchel's appetite for risk is greater. England's substitutes against Croatia were like for like in profile rather than changing the dynamic or balance of the team.

Yes, they looked more fragile than Southgate's side defensively. But it's a trade-off many fans will be willing to accept.