LONDON — England reached the 2018 World Cup semifinals by scoring just three goals from open play. Gareth Southgate and his coaching staff offset this issue by developing a sustained and inventive threat from set pieces, chiefly through mastering the adaptation to VAR quicker than most other countries.
The rich array of attacking talent England have developed in the intervening three years demanded much more of them at Euro 2020, but Friday’s 0-0 draw at Wembley highlights just how much work there is still to do.
Scotland were well organised, disciplined and carried a tangible threat when the opportunities arose, cheered on by 2,500 members of the Tartan Army whose noise far exceeded their number. None of that will have been a surprise to Southgate, mindful of the history of the world’s oldest international fixture — this is the 115th instalment dating back 149 years (the first also ended 0-0) — and wary of the gulf in expectations possibly creating a misguided sense of entitlement.
Perhaps it spoke to the conservative streak within him. There was certainly a measure of caution in England’s passing, lacking risk or penetration, particularly in central midfield where they continue to miss a playmaker able to inject the requisite tempo to unsettle a team as defensively resilient as the Scots were here.
Southgate is acutely aware of the idiosyncrasies of tournament football and England undeniably remain on track for their first target: qualifying for the knockout rounds from Group D.
“We didn’t do enough to win the game or create enough clear-cut chances,” he said. “I thought they defended extremely well. We couldn’t find the solutions. We had moments down the sides, which is where the spaces were against them, but we weren’t able to exploit the spaces.
“In the end, not enough to win but this is a tournament and it is critical when you can’t win, not to lose. That of course feels difficult in the last 15 minutes of a game like tonight where fans are desperate for you to go forward and abandon all shape because it is Scotland, it feels like a unique occasion. But we have to still approach it in the context that a point is an important step towards qualification and that is the first objective for us.”
Yet if they are to justify the pre-tournament hype that this young side could genuinely rival Europe’s heavyweights and launch a prolonged run into the latter stages, they need to offer more going forward than this.
Harry Kane encapsulates the problem at present. Kane won the Golden Boot in Russia three years ago, but he made the absolute maximum of the limited service he received, including a fortuitous goal against Panama when the ball flew in off his heel while he ran in the opposite direction.
Only five teams created fewer chances from open play at the last World Cup. No team had more shots on target from set pieces — an average of six per 90 minutes.
Among Southgate’s principal aims was to increase England’s potency in normal play yet here they mustered one shot on target all evening. Kane’s 19 touches are the fewest he has ever had in an England game when playing more than 45 minutes.
England’s captain looks some way off his best yet it is rare sight indeed to witness the 27-year-old taken off when his team — Tottenham Hotspur or England — need a goal, but Southgate did just that with 16 minutes remaining. It was a logical decision, as was introducing Marcus Rashford in some capacity and, of course, he is fully capable playing through the middle. But the Manchester United forward did not start any qualifying games there and is, generally speaking, more convincing off the left flank. Dominic Calvert-Lewin seemed more obviously suited to the physical battle Scotland made this but he remained an unused substitute. Southgate must get these calls right when the stakes increase as the tournament progresses.
Typically, he sought to generalise when the focus shifted to Kane’s two underwhelming individual displays so far this summer.
“We have got to look at the whole performance, our use of the ball and review where we could be better,” he said. “That is right across the board. It is not about one person. Scotland marked him extremely well. With the back five there isn’t a lot of space. Anything that is played up, they’re aggressive and defended well. We couldn’t find the answers.”
This was structurally a similar performance to the one that managed to see off Croatia, but caution in their approach was more understandable in those circumstances. England were always going to have more of the ball here yet it followed almost the exact same pattern as the previous Sunday: start well, hit the post early, then gradually lose their way as the opposition settles into a rhythm.
Early in the second half against Croatia, the England fans began calling for Jack Grealish. It was a sentiment rendered redundant minutes later as Raheem Sterling broke the deadlock, but it should not be forgotten that goal came during a spell in which England looked most vulnerable.
The goal did not come this time. Grealish’s involvement was demanded once more and this time Southgate yielded, taking off Phil Foden, who is yet to set this tournament alight in the manner many hoped.
Grealish briefly threatened to breathe life into England but the collective malaise soon engulfed him too. Southgate opted not to change the team’s 4-3-3 shape, yet the patterns of play still looked disjointed.
England worked the ball into crossing positions for the full-backs — Reece James and Luke Shaw were the two changes to the starting lineup due to “their technical ability with the ball,” according to Southgate — only for those players to often turn down the chance to cross. Players ran down cul-de-sacs or played straight passes that were easy for Scotland’s tireless back five to deal with.
“The timing of our movement, our rotation patterns could have been better,” admitted Southgate. “We didn’t hit the level we wanted to or need to. Tonight we have to accept whatever comes our way. What I would say is I totally understand anything that comes my way as the manager. What we need to do is make sure we get behind the players. There are a lot of young players who need the support of everybody.”
The clamour to include some fresh faces will grow after this. Jadon Sancho, for example, did not even make the 23, nor did Bukayo Saka. These were always likely to be decisions that would go a long way in determining England’s tournament hopes. Southgate has plenty of thinking to do.
DETROIT — Jack Leiter, the son of former major league pitcher Al Leiter, is set to make his major league debut for the Texas Rangers against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday.
Texas said Tuesday it intended to select the contract of Leiter, 23, from Triple-A Round Rock, where he is 1-1 with a 3.73 ERA in two starts and one relief appearance this season.
Taken second overall in the 2021 amateur draft from Vanderbilt, Leiter has pitched 14⅓ innings this season with 25 strikeouts and three walks. He struck out 10 over six innings against Oklahoma City last Friday, allowing three runs and six hits.
Leiter struggled at Double-A Frisco in his first pro season in 2022, going 3-10 with a 5.54 ERA. He split last season at Frisco and Round Rock, finishing 2-6 with a 5.19 ERA starts with 114 strikeouts and 49 walks in 85 innings.
Left-hander Andrew Heaney had been slated to start in Thursday’s series finale but is being pushed back to Friday’s series opener at Atlanta Braves.
Al Leiter was a two-time All-Star and won 162 games over 19 seasons from 1987 to 2005.
NEW YORK — Whitey Herzog, the gruff and ingenious Hall of Fame manager who guided the St. Louis Cardinals to three pennants and a World Series title in the 1980s and perfected an intricate, nail-biting strategy known as “Whiteyball,” has died. He was 92.
“Whitey spent his last few days surrounded by his family. We have so appreciated all of the prayers and support from friends who knew he was very ill. Although it is hard for us to say goodbye, his peaceful passing was a blessing for him,” his family said in a statement released by the Cardinals.
Herzog had been at Busch Stadium on April 4 for the Cardinals’ home opener.
A crew-cut, pot-bellied tobacco chewer who had no patience for the “buddy-buddy” school of management, Herzog joined the Cardinals in 1980 and helped end the team’s decade-plus pennant drought by adapting it to the artificial surface and distant fences of Busch Memorial Stadium. A typical Cardinals victory under Herzog was a low-scoring, one-run game, sealed in the final innings by a “bullpen by committee,” relievers who might be replaced after a single pitch, or temporarily shifted to the outfield, then brought back to the mound.
The Cardinals had power hitters in George Hendrick and Jack Clark, but they mostly relied on the speed and resourcefulness of switch-hitters Vince Coleman and Willie McGee, the acrobat fielding of shortstop and future Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith and the effective pitching of starters such as John Tudor and Danny Cox and relievers Todd Worrell, Ken Dayley and Jeff Lahti. For the ’82 champions, Herzog didn’t bother rotating relievers, but simply brought in future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter to finish the job.
“[The media] seemed to think there was something wrong with the way we played baseball, with speed and defense and line-drive hitters,” Herzog wrote in his memoir “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” published in 1987. “They called it ‘Whiteyball’ and said it couldn’t last.”
Under Herzog, the Cards won pennants in 1982, 1985 and 1987, and the World Series in 1982, when they edged the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games. Herzog managed the Kansas City Royals to division titles in 1976-78, but they lost each time in the league championship to the New York Yankees.
“On behalf of the entire St. Louis Cardinals organization, I would like to offer our condolences to the family and many friends of Whitey Herzog,” Cardinals chairman and chief executive officer Bill DeWitt Jr. said in a statement. “Whitey and his teams played a big part in changing the direction of the Cardinals franchise in the early 1980s with an exciting style of play that would become known as “Whitey Ball” throughout baseball. Whitey loved the Cardinals, their fans, and St. Louis. He will be sorely missed.”
The entire Cardinals family is heartbroken to learn of the passing of Hall of Famer and World Series champion manager Whitey Herzog at the age of 92. pic.twitter.com/PLwAM6PV4V
Overall, Herzog was a manager for 18 seasons, compiling a record of 1,281-1,125. He was named Manager of the Year in 1985 and voted into the Hall by the Veterans Committee in 2010, his plaque noting his “stern, yet good-natured style,” and his emphasis on speed, pitching and defense. Just before he formally entered the Hall, the Cardinals retired his uniform number, 24.
“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Whitey’s family, his friends across the game, and the fans of the Cardinals and the Royals,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
When asked about the secrets of managing, he would reply a sense of humor and a good bullpen.
Dorrel Norman Elvert Herzog was born in New Athens, Illinois, a blue-collar community that would shape him long after he left. He excelled in baseball and basketball and was open to skipping the occasional class to take in a Cardinals game. Signed by the New York Yankees, he was a center fielder who discovered that he had competition from a prospect born just weeks before him, Mickey Mantle.
Herzog never played for the Yankees, but he did get to know manager Casey Stengel, another master shuffler of players who became a key influence. The light-haired Herzog was named “The White Rat” because of his resemblance to Yankees pitcher Bob “The White Rat” Kuzava.
As a player, Herzog batted .257 over eight seasons and played several positions. His best year was with the Baltimore Orioles in 1961, when he hit .291. He also played for the Washington Senators, Kansas City Athletics and Detroit Tigers, with whom he ended his playing career, in 1963.
“Baseball has been good to me since I quit trying to play it,” he liked to say.
After working as a scout and coach, Herzog was hired in 1967 by the New York Mets as director of player development, with Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan among the future stars he helped bring along. The Mets liked him well enough to designate him the successor to Gil Hodges, but when the manager died suddenly in 1972, the job went to Yogi Berra. Herzog instead debuted with the Texas Rangers the following season, finishing just 47-91 before being replaced by Billy Martin. He managed the Angels for a few games in 1974 and joined the Royals the following season, his time with Kansas City peaking in 1977 when the team finished 102-60.
Many players spoke warmly of Herzog, but he didn’t hesitate to rid his teams of those he no longer wanted, dumping such Cardinals stars as outfielder Lonnie Smith and starting pitcher Joaquin Andujar. One trade worked out brilliantly: Before the 1982 season, he exchanged .300 hitting shortstop Garry Templeton, whom Herzog had chastised for not hustling, for the San Diego Padres‘ light-hitting Ozzie Smith, now widely regarded as the best defensive shortstop in history. Another deal was less far successful: Gold Glove first baseman Keith Hernandez, with whom Herzog had feuded, to the Mets in the middle of 1983 for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. Hernandez led New York to the World Series title in 1986, while Allen and Ownbey were soon forgotten.
Herzog was just as tough on himself, resigning in the middle of 1990 because he was “embarrassed” by the team’s 33-47 record. He served as a consultant and general manager for the Los Angeles Angels in the early ’90s and briefly considered managing the Boston Red Sox before the 1997 season.
If the ’82 championship was the highlight of his career, his greatest blow was the ’85 series. The Cardinals were up 3 games to 2 against his former team, the Royals, and in Game 6 led 1-0 going into the bottom of the ninth, with Worrell brought in to finish the job.
Jorge Orta led off and grounded an 0-2 pitch between the mound and first base. In one of the most famous blown calls in baseball history, he was ruled safe by umpire Don Denkinger, even though replays showed first baseman Jack Clark’s toss to Worrell was in time. The Cardinals never recovered. Kansas City rallied for two runs to tie the series and crushed the Cards 11-0 in Game 7.
“No, I’m not bitter at Denkinger,” Herzog told the AP years later. “He’s a good guy, he knows he made a mistake, and he’s a human being. It happened at an inopportune time, but I do think they ought to have instant replay in the playoffs and World Series.”
As if testing Herzog’s humor, the Hall inducted him alongside an umpire, Doug Harvey.
“I don’t know why he should get in,” Herzog joked at the time. “Doug kicked me out of more games than any other umpire.”
Herzog is survived by Mary Lou Herzog, his wife of 71 years, children Debra, David and Jim and their spouses, nine grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
SUNRISE, Fla. — Bill Zito has been promoted by the Florida Panthers, with the team announcing Monday that its general manager will now also serve as the team’s president of hockey operations.
The promotion came with a multiyear contract extension, the terms of which were not revealed by the reigning Eastern Conference champions.
Zito’s arrival four years ago sparked a massive turnaround by the Panthers, who have made the playoffs in all four of his seasons leading the front office — a streak unlike any other in club history — and have won more than half their games in all four of those seasons. In the 26 seasons before Zito, Florida had a total of three seasons when it won more than 50% of its games.
“Obviously on a personal level, I’m thrilled and honored,” Zito said. “And I’m grateful to be able to continue to try to keep building and keep pursuing the goal of making this a destination franchise.”
It’s another example of the Panthers locking up talent for years to come, with one of owner Vincent Viola’s mandates being to assure the fan base that what’s being built in Florida is being built to last for many years.
“From his first day as a Panther, Bill has demonstrated his complete commitment to success both on and off the ice. He has worked steadfastly and tirelessly to establish a new standard of excellence for our franchise,” Viola said. “The future has never looked brighter in South Florida, and we are thrilled that Bill will continue to lead the way.”
Florida has the fifth-best record in the NHL during Zito’s tenure, plus leads the league in comeback wins, overtime wins and shots on goal. The Panthers are tied with Edmonton for second in the NHL in goals over Zito’s four seasons entering Monday; they have 1,073, three fewer than Colorado had.
Also under Zito, a two-time GM of the year finalist, the Panthers won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2022 and went to the Stanley Cup Final last season.
“Under Bill’s leadership we have seen renewed fan excitement, consistent playoff appearances and a sustained culture of success,” Panthers alternate governor Michael Viola said. “Through this extension, we are recommitting to stability and strength at the heart of our organization, and the continued growth of our sport throughout Broward County and South Florida.”
Last week, USA Hockey completed its management staff for the upcoming NHL 4 Nations Face-Off & the 2026 Olympic team, and Zito was named an assistant general manager by GM Bill Guerin.
