Compile a league table after two rounds of Euro 2020 and England are 22nd. They have averaged 1.5 shots on target per match, better only than Finland and Slovakia.
Go to shots per match and they climb to 21st, ahead of Hungary, Finland and – more surprisingly – Belgium. Their total number of goals – a solitary one – puts them above only Scotland, Sweden and Turkey.
Suffice to say that few thought that, after two games, England would only have had as many shots on target as Holland’s right wing-back, the buccaneering Denzel Dumfries. England’s three – from Kalvin Phillips, Raheem Sterling and Mason Mount – represents a meagre return.
Include off-target efforts and 32 players had more shots in the opening two games than any Englishman.
Not a new problem for England
It has been a problem of creativity as well as of finishing. Set-pieces provided much of their threat in the 2018 World Cup and, with five dead-ball passes that led to a shot attempt, they stand third in that table.
In open-play, however, England’s 17 put them joint fourth from bottom. A dribble, from Phillips, led to their only goal, but that is the only dribble that has set up a shot; the comparable figures for Wales (six) and Denmark (five) suggest England should run with the ball more.
With six, Mount has made the most shot-creating actions of any England player. Even though their 55.0 percent share of possession put them eighth, some 25 other players have more than Mount; only Sterling, with five, has more than three in the England camp.
Their combined total of 28 is less than double the 15 Denmark’s defensive midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has on his own.
Cautious full-backs a problem
Rivals offer some illustration of where England are going wrong.
Gareth Southgate has rotated his full-backs but their combined total of seven shot-creating actions is as many as Italy’s Leonardo Spinazzola has managed on his own and one fewer than Scotland captain Andrew Robertson has.
Robertson has delivered 14 crosses, albeit from wing-back; England’s four full-backs have put in six between them.
It all suggests their positioning has been too cautious to make an impact in the final third.
Underperforming attacking players
England’s lack of incision has reflected most on Harry Kane; his three shots have all been off target, but he averages 3.91 attempts at goal per 90 minutes in the Premier League.
A man who topped the assist tally with 14 has produced a solitary shot-creating action, compared to 113 (an average of 3.30 per 90 minutes) in the English top flight.
That measly one chance created puts him level with goalkeepers Lucas Hradecky, Ugurcan Cakir and Jordan Pickford, plus his team-mate Phil Foden; again, it is a dramatic decrease on his 3.73 per 90 minutes for Manchester City in the Premier League.
It is a common theme. Even Mount, whose attacking numbers stack up better than this team-mates’, is down from 5.08 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes in the Premier League to 3.00.
His pass completion rate is at 63 percent, down from 69 in the Premier League, his key passes at 0.5 per game, instead of 1.4.
If a common denominator is that all of Southgate’s attacking players are struggling to replicate their club form on an international stage in Euro 2020, Kane is an extreme case. In every category, he has looked a lesser player.
For England, the challenge is to produce their Premier League – or even Bundesliga – selves.