In the second semi-final of the European Championship, England will take advantage of Harry Kane's penalty in extra time to beat Denmark 2-1 in the final against Italy. A topic of concern in this game is the once again abandonment of Manchester United's £73 million striker Sancho.
Although Sancho entered the 23-man roster, he sat on the cold bench for 120 minutes and did not get a chance to play. He started the last round against the Czech Republic and performed decently, with fans hoping he could continue to play, but Southgate chose Arsenal youngster Bukayo Saka. In the second half, Glalish replaced Saka, Manchester City youngster Phil Foden also came off the bench, and after the Three Lions took the lead, it was Trippier who came on to defend the victory, and Sancho was not called up from the beginning.
In the quarter-finals of the last Round of the European Championship, Sancho started because the tactics required England to attack the flanks of the opponent's Ukrainian formation, and he had the ability to hold the ball and break through, and performed the tactical task well. Saka replaced Sancho in this game, also due to the tactical adjustment of the characteristics of the opponent, Southgate needs to strictly guard against the Danish side attack. Saka has played on the left and right at Arsenal and has played as a full-back, making him more balanced in attack and defence.
One of the Danish threats is left wing-back Joachim Mehler, whose assists for Atlander's Mehler have been key to Danish scoring goals, scoring 10 goals in their last three European Championship games, with Mahler scoring two goals and assisting once, and Southgate did not dare to take it lightly.
Southgate confirmed that England started Saka and did not use Sancho because of the balance between attack and defense. "Jayden (Sancho) really took up the challenge and we were very happy with his performance last weekend, but everyone knows we have very good options in these areas. We are confident in the balance of the squad for this match and Bukayo (Saka) is the right choice."
Compared with Saka, the professional data website "WhoScored" data shows that one of Sancho's weaknesses is defensive contribution, as for Saka, although he has no significant strengths, he does not have too many weaknesses, very comprehensive.
Against Denmark, Saka's performance was decent, and after England reached the final, Sancho still had to compete with the likes of Saka, Foden and Gloris for a starting or even substitute position. It depends on Southgate's tactical choices, after all, Italy's most threatening left wingback, Spinazola, has been reimbursed, and the Three Lions need to choose whether to take an offensive suppression or cautious defensive attitude against the Italian's new left.
But in any case, for Sancho personally, this European Championship is difficult to say successful, he has only played in 2 of England's 6 games so far, and only started once. Following this trend, Sancho may have to continue to sit on Wembley's bench in the final, and become a spectator with future Manchester United teammate Marcus Rashford.