Gareth Southgate's tactics are concerning England fans ahead of Three Lions' World Cup opener on Monday.
This article was originally published on 20 November 2022
Despite much fan optimism and support for the players and manager, England fans are concerned about their teams’ tactics. The Three Lions head into Monday’s World Cup opener against Iran as 1/3 90 minutes favourites, and also, 1/3 favourites to win Group B. But some fans are not convinced.
As part of the ongoing bet365 Fan Nation Survey, we asked: If you could change one aspect of the football team which you will be supporting before the World Cup, what would it be, if anything?
And for the 68.14% of England fans who would like to change at least one aspect of the team, the majority (23.89%) said they’d like to change the teams’ tactics.
Top five aspects of England men’s national team fans would change:
| What would you change? | Percentage (%) |
| Tactics | 23.89% |
| Manager | 15.04% |
| Squad | 12.39% |
| Formation | 7.08% |
| Starting XI | 7.96% |
Compared to other nations, only Mexico ranks above England fans who have concerns over their team’s tactics.
| Country: | Vote Share (%) |
| Mexico | 29.93% |
| England | 23.89% |
| Argentina | 22.49% |
| USA | 21.00% |
| Wales | 21.00% |
| Australia | 20.79% |
| Average of all Countries | 20.03% |
| Spain | 20.00% |
| Brazil | 16.28% |
| Germany | 14.17% |
| Netherlands | 10.78% |
England’s run of six consecutive games without a victory will more than likely contribute to fears that the team’s tactical setup isn’t unlocking the best of the talent available to manager Gareth Southgate.
When we asked England fans why they wanted to change this aspect of the team, the most common responses were to ensure a ‘more positive way of playing (44.16%)’, ‘better chance creation (41.56%)’, followed by ‘having more possession (19.48%)’ and ‘conceding less goals (19.48%)’.
Top 3 reasons for why England fans want tactics changing:
| Reason for your changes? | Percentage (%) |
| More positive way of playing | 44.16% |
| Better chance creation (e.g., chance of scoring) | 41.56% |
| More possession | 19.48% |
| Concede less goals | 19.48% |
Fans of the Netherlands and Argentina were found to be the most aligned with their national team’s manager.
They are the only nations whose fans voted in the majority (+50%) that they wouldn’t change a single thing going into the World Cup (54.90% and 52.66%) respectively.
Almost 10% of England Fans WOULDN’T Celebrate a World Cup Win...
We asked each countries fan’s how they’d celebrate if their team won the World Cup.
45.69% answered they’d be partying either at their own home or at a friends or family member’s home. That’s more than the 38.91% who said they’d celebrate with a night out, which we doubt would be the case, were this World Cup being held in the summer.
What was eye catching was the number of fans who said they wouldn’t celebrate at all. 6.34% of all fans said they’d refuse to celebrate if their country won the World Cup.
And it’s the Dutch, Australians and the English who top the charts:
| I wouldn't celebrate if my team wins the World Cup: | Percentage (%) |
| Netherlands | 29.41% |
| Australia | 10.89% |
| England | 8.85% |
| Germany | 6.67% |
| Brazil | 3.10% |
We didn’t ask the reasons why, we just hope England bring it home and do us all proud.
There will be plenty more to come from bet365’s Fan Nation Survey, delivering the best fan insight Throughout Qatar 2022. Stay tuned to the bet365 World Cup news pages for updates.
The bet365 Fan Nation Survey has been powered by survey data collected from Censuswide.
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