
Football
Share
Published 10:50 15 Jul 2018 BST
Explore more on these topics:
He then inverted the midfield trio, moving from two holding midfielders to just one, with two more advanced playmakers. This was the system used in the spring friendlies against Italy and the Netherlands and it appeared to be the ideal way of squeezing the most out of a young squad.
And it worked, for most of England's World Cup campaign at least.
Jordan Henderson's energy at the base of midfield, as well as his excellent forward passing, was key to maintaining momentum in games when previous England sides may have taken their foot off the gas.
Meanwhile, Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli performed well, despite neither of them playing as number 8s for their club sides.
Unfortunately, as soon as times got tough, and England were faced with a quality midfield, they reverted to old habits.
The lack of a calm, composed central midfielder, someone who would be able to slow the game down, allow England to take a breather and regain control, was so glaringly obvious in the semi-final. Henderson has many qualities, but he does not have what they call on the continent 'pausa'.
Too often he opted to hit a lofted pass over the top, hoping that Raheem Sterling would chase the ball down and win a corner. This contributed to the team suffering from extreme fatigue towards the end of matches, as Alli, Lingard, Sterling and Kane were forced to spend large quantities of the game chasing balls over the top.
Maybe Henderson did not trust Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard to keep possession in a midfield battle against Luka Modrić and Ivan Rakitić, maybe he didn't trust himself. Maybe this tactic was symptomatic of an England side who started to doubt themselves when they came up against a better side.
Just to hammer home the tragedy of this downfall, England had the perfect player to play that role watching from his sofa at home: Harry Winks. The Tottenham player won man of the match on his England debut and has dominated games against Europe's elite from a holding midfield position.
England have come a long way since that game against Iceland, but this World Cup showed that there is still room for improvement.
Thankfully, it is a young squad, with a young, ambitious manager who will reconvene for the next international break more determined than ever to capitalise on the momentum built throughout this tournament.
Add to this an exhaustive list of technically adept youngsters rising through the ranks, and it's not a stretch to believe that the old problems inhibiting English midfields may soon be a thing of the past.England fans face being kicked out of stadium for chants during World Cup
The tournament starts on Thursday England fans at the World Cup could face being kicked out of grounds over “cheeky chants or swearing”, reports Sun Sport. Thanks to a 94-point Fifa code of conduct, there are several rules that have been implemented for the tournament. The 2500 word document sent to ticket holders ahead of […]
Football
12h
Christian Eriksen issues personal statement after collapsing on pitch
The international collapsed in a friendly against Ukraine. Denmark’s national team doctor Morten Boesen has issued an update on Christian Eriksen following his collapse against Ukraine. The friendly match in Odense was halted after 65 minutes when the player collapsed, with the game abandoned shortly after. The 34-year-old was then thankfully able to walk from […]
Football
13h
FIFA confirm major rule change days before World Cup starts
Football