A tactical analysis of England in the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Rewind two years, it’s World Cup time. Again, expectations weren’t sky-high but we surely couldn’t be worse that the showing in France for the Euro’s two years ago and the Brazil World Cup two years previous to that. In the lead up to the tournament it felt like the young Three Lions had a breath of fresh air about them under the tutorship of former England International Gareth Southgate, and his trusted assistant, Steve Holland.
England managed to secure their joint-best World Cup finish since that day at Wembley in 1966. Southgate re-instated a Nation’s pride in their football team which had been lost on the way somewhere down the line that included every possible type of heart-break in tournament football.
Here’s how Southgate lead England to a fourth-place finish:
STRATEGY
Southgate’s strategy deserves recognition solely for the purpose of setting out his stall early. Unlike, in France and Brazil, it seemed like the England manager knew his best team and formation, and was determined to stick with what England has progressed with, and not make knee-jerk decisions should something go awry.
BEST XI
IN POSSESSION
England were arguably more efficient when in possession of the ball as opposed to the European Championships in France in 2016, in that tournament they averaged a possession percentage of 59%, compared to just 53% this time round.
Playing from the back:
Three central defenders offer more passing lanes when playing out from a goal-kick. All three of England’s centre-backs are known to be good on the ball and able to play out in tricky situations. Despite this, England largely opted for a longer pass, usually into Kane. This is part is due to the fact that England played sides that are not known for pressing high up the pitch. England opted to play a longer ball, which has played a role in some crucial England goals in recent times (I.e Vs Spain, UEFA Nations League). Refreshingly, the longer pass into the middle and final third was a precise one stemming from Jordan Pickford’s excellent vision and skill with the ball at his feet, matched by the physicality of Kane.
PLAYER MOVEMENTS
When analysing England over the duration of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the player movements suggested a more orchestrated tactical preference, as opposed to a largely reactive one.
GOALKEEPER:
Pickford’s movements typified him as a typical sweeper-keeper, acting as a sixth defender. Pickford’s movement was in no way as extreme as that of Germany’s Manuel Neuer, yet he was a presence behind England’s backline.
Pickford’s movement whilst the England defenders and midfielders had the ball, shows why Southgate rates him as his number one and has spoke about his ability with the ball. Pickford always made himself available for the ball regardless of which defender or even if Henderson has the ball, he shuttled into an angle to be able to receive the ball.
DEFENDERS:
The back three were conventional in their movements, with nothing out of the ordinary for teams commonly playing a back three. John Stones was the jewel in the back three. His passing ability and vision allowed him to form almost a deeper-playmaker role from the middle of the back three.
In addition to the previous, the outside centre-backs shuttled extremely wide to make passing angles which allowed them to progress the ball quicker into the wing-backs or wider-central midfielders. This was especially apparent against the weaker sides that England came up against in. John Stones, often dropped deeper, to create a triangle between the back three, this in turn allows both of the centre-backs to receive the ball when the other is on the ball.
MIDFIELDERS:
The positions that were taken up by the midfielders when England were in possession were arguably one of the most impressive and interesting tactical features of England throughout the World Cup.
To start, I’ve included the Wing-Backs as midfielders in this analysis and it justified why England operated in a 3-5-2 as opposed a 5-3-2. Both Ashley Young and Kieran Trippier operated in advanced roles when England were in possession of the ball. Both were instructed to be high and wide, regardless of the position of the ball. Which was typified when England had the ball on the wide left, and Kieran Trippier hugged the touchline on the far side.
Jordan Henderson was the anchor for the team during the World Cup, and his contribution sometimes got overlooked. In the system, England played when in possession, England needed a strong, athletic and agile midfielder to fill the role. England often left a large gap in the middle of the park, and were sometimes fortunate not to have been countered with any great threat, until they came up against Belgium twice. The lack of goals England conceded from attacks springing the middle of the pitch is testament to how good Henderson was.
Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli (Ruben Loftus-Cheek for a couple of games) operated as Mezzala’s on the outside of the midfield triangle. Lingard and Alli often vacated the traditional positions, in favour of more advanced ones closer to the front two, often in the ‘half-spaces’ which allowed Trippier and Young to overlap. Lingard and Dele Alli’s positions allowed England defenders and the Midfield ‘Six’ Jordan Henderson to break lines and progress the ball into the attacking third.
FORWARDS:
Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling produced an interesting strike partnership, and whilst Sterling wasn’t fruitful throughout the tournament, the role he played was key in the amount of goals England scored in the tournament, regardless if they were from open play or set-pieces.
Harry Kane operated as somewhat of a Deep-Lying Forward, almost like a hybrid of an ‘old-fashioned’ target man mixed with the ability of a player that can run from deep. Kane’s importance and physicality meant that it opened up channels for Sterling to use his blistering pace.
Sterling often drifted into wider areas to support the wing-backs and wide central midfielders. Sterling flourished in this role, as he is a natural wide midfielder and not a traditional striker, therefore it made sense for Sterling to drift wide, whilst the more prolific Kane stayed central and in the area of the pitch known as Zone 14, where a shot or incisive pass can be made that leads to a goal-scoring opportunity.
Summary of England In-Possession:
England were very aggressive in their set-up whilst in possession, the formation whilst in-possession resembled that of a 3-1-4-2. This was likely a conscious decision to try and add more attackers to the game to counter England playing with an extra defender. Despite this, one of the weaknesses of this system, was that Henderson was left in the middle on his own, and should they have played higher-quality opposition who were more incisive and precise, they could have been very susceptible to counter-attacks, especially if the opposition penetrated through the middle.
Out of Possession:
England, when out of possession, reverted to a standard 5-3-2, with Trippier and Young slotting in to make a flat five. The midfield also reverted to a flatter three as opposed to Henderson sitting deeper, especially when the ball was in the middle third. This was to stop any players finding space behind Dele and Lingard to take the ball on the half turn. Despite this, Lingard and Dele were required to push wider to apply pressure on the opposite numbers when they had broken the initial line of engagement.
Kane and Sterling often guided and dictated the play more so than initiating an intense press. They tried to dictate play into wider areas where the wing-backs and outside central midfielders could initiate pressure. England operated a mid-block for much of the tournament, with the line engagement typically being where Sterling and Kane are pictured here, however that changed on a game-by-game basis, where sometimes they had a slightly lower line of engagement, typically just over the half-way line.
The FIFA Technical Report from the FIFA 2018 World Cup demonstrate England’s patterns when out of possession. England largely favoured operating with a high line, this in part due to Pickford’s ability as a sweeper keeper, but also due to the agility of, especially, Kyle Walker. England’s compactness without the ball also demonstrates the previously mentioned point about funnelling the ball into wide areas. This is often occurring, when playing a narrow midfield and forward line.
(FIFA, 2018)
Set-Pieces:
Arguably, the most impressive feature of England’s World Cup run. England scored three quarters of their goals from set-pieces; Four from corners, three from the penalty spot and two from free-kicks.
Harry Kane proved a prolific force from the penalty spot, as England scored penalties vs Panama (2) and Colombia. Whilst Trippier showed his skill from dead ball situations in the semi-final vs Croatia. A well worked Free-kick routine culminated in John Stones netting his first and second of the match vs Panama.
England’s corners were the stand-out feature in terms of set-pieces. A number of well-worked routines culminated in goals.
From attacking corners, England deserve credit for identifying the teams that largely man-marked. The perfect example being the game against Panama. A series of orchestrated running patterns cause madness to ensue in the Panama defence, leading to an unmarked John Stones to head in from the penalty spot. England orchestrated attacking set-piece corners with an unselfish swagger, players made smart movements to ensure that the aerially dangerous players had space to exploit, which started from the Tunisia game where Kane was unmarked to score in the 90th minute. De ja vu struck in the above-mentioned game vs Panama. Maguire was the only goal from a corner where he was heavily marked, this shows that England were aware of the teams set-piece frailties, and looked to expose this as a result, to which they did.
Summary:
England were largely impressive during the 2018 World Cup. Gareth Southgate imposed a system that allowed England to be both fluid, whilst remaining disciplined. Of course, it was evident to see that with England’s talents, the 3-5-2 was a formation that was a starting point for the future, we’ve seen a switch to a 4-3-3 since, which suits the talents of England more so than the 3-5-2, yet the formation seen at the World Cup served its purpose and presented interesting tactical features, such as the central midfielders pushing into the half-spaces and being more advanced, which was typified by Southgate’s decision to employ two traditionally attacking midfield players there.
England were impressive and looked a brand-new team, yet they still retained some of the ‘old-fashioned’ English accustoms, such as the role Harry Kane played, as well as Pickford’s direct penetration into the final-third. England truly were a beautiful hybrid between new and old.
By Russell Pope
Images: The FA.com
Footballia.com was used for the game broadcasts