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How Steve Holland helped Gareth Southgate hatch England's World Cup plan

It was over dinner in Sochi during a month long road trip last summer that Gareth Southgate and Steve Holland hatched their World Cup plan.

The duo were taking in a series of Confederations Cup matches and travelled to watch England Under 21’s European Championship campaign in Poland as they sought to identify a style, a system and a setting which could make the senior team competitive on the biggest stage of all.

“We were over here [in Russia] firstly looking at potential facilities,” said Holland. “We hadn't of course qualified by then, so without taking any liberties we were looking at what might be a good idea, what might be a good place, experiencing the different climates at the right time of year.

“We went back to watch the 21s when the England games were on and went back to the Confeds Cup when those games were on. We spent a lot of time on a plane but it really gave us the opportunity to speak about what we'd learnt in the year.

(REUTERS)
(REUTERS)

“We came to some conclusions. We watched the matches in the Confeds Cup; Germany, Portugal, Mexico, Chile, some good teams.

“We tried to envisage how we would, how our team would look in those kinds of fixtures against that kind of opposition, and we made some decisions. One of those was a back three. That decision was with and without the ball. We felt we would be better with and without the ball with a back three.

“We had dinner in Sochi and that was more or less where it was named.”

There were other influences. Holland had spent six years working under a variety of managers at Chelsea, the last of which, Antonio Conte, led a sea-change to a back-three in the Premier League.

Southgate drew on influences from his playing days of Terry Venables and Glenn Hoddle using three-man defences at tournaments he was involved in.

“We have looked at Terry Venables’ Euro 96 team with Steve McManaman and Darren Anderton as wing-backs and Gary Neville in a back three, the balance of the midfield, etc. Even back to Bobby Robson, in Italia 90, who started with one way of playing then went to a back three.

“But I think rather than it being something he was comfortable with or that he remembered from the past, the process really was: what gives us the best chance of not conceding many goals? What gives us the best chance of having more control of the game with the ball? They were the two factors really. Also given the players that we’ve got, the type of players we had.

“That meant once we were going down that road, to fit one of those three positions you had to be a certain profile of player. It’s been documented some players maybe are, some maybe aren’t, but we were very clear if that’s what we’re going to do, to play in one of those three roles, to be able to handle the ball to a good level is one of those criteria.”

Holland was forced into a difficult decision when asked to go full-time as Southgate’s number two.

(REUTERS)
(REUTERS)

“I loved working for Chelsea,” he said. “Chelsea is not always a club that gets great press, media, for whatever reasons. But Chelsea is a brilliant club, for me it was a brilliant club.

“The most exciting club in the world, never a dull moment. Not always good, unfortunately. But in the six years I worked with the first team, I experienced a World Club Championship final, a Champions League final, a Europa League final, an FA Cup final, a Capital One Cup final, two successful Premier League title run-ins.

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

“Alternate pre-seasons we were in Asia or America. Being with Chelsea was just a privilege. I saw the world, I experienced the best matches football can provide and got a fantastic insight into the psyche of the top player, the elite player. I learned so much. And then add to that, I worked with Jose Mourinho, I worked with Carlo Ancelotti, I worked with Rafael Benitez, Conte. Again, an incredible environment to learn.

“Why did I leave? Because of this, [being at a World Cup]. I think it is right [I had to go full time], by the way. For me to coach Tottenham’s players, Liverpool’s players, Manchester City’s players and then go back to Chelsea, that was never going to work.

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“It’s either you stay or you come. I think that was absolutely clear. That’s the way it should be. I couldn’t say no to experiencing this.”