Watch: Keane dissects forward play at EURO 2020

UEFA EURO 2020 thrilled fans worldwide with some of the best international football has to offer – it was dramatic and entertaining – but also fascinating from a technical point of view.

UEFA's team of technical observers analysed all aspects of the tournament: the matches, the teams, the players and the coaching trends that emerged or were reinforced during the summer’s festival of football.

In the latest of our series of videos with these technical observers, Robbie Keane gives a striker’s perspective on EURO 2020 – a tournament that produced a record in terms of goals scored.

Keane pays particular attention in his analysis to inverted wingers and false nines. He identifies how the role of the wide player has changed over the years. Whereas they used to operate mainly on the touchline, Keane says "these guys are now coming inside and this is the overload in the middle of the park which creates different opportunities and different spaces".

While the former Republic of Ireland international explained that 35% of goals were scored from crosses and cutbacks, the crosses did not come from wide areas. "I would say more of a pass than a cross. There were fewer headed goals in this tournament than before." Keane demonstrates how this played at EURO 2020 via clips and also suggested it may have helped account for the high number of own goals.

Keane shows how forwards would position themselves out of possession and how they move into wide areas once the ball has been turned over before driving into the box. In summary, the shift in role for forward players in recent years has become ever more noticeable, he says. "We've certainly seen a different role, a change in the last few years with strikers. I would say there are more inverted wingers – there were more strikers when I was playing. It's a trend we've seen in the last five to six years and it's given more opportunities to score."