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Is it finally coming home? We take a deep dive into the tactics, key player selections, and formations that give England a real chance of lifting the World Cup trophy. From the left-wing dilemma to Jude Bellingham's crucial role, this is the ultimate tactical breakdown.
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00:00England are heading into another World Cup tournament with a heavy weight of expectation on their shoulders, but and hear
00:06me out with this one
00:06I think they could actually do it this time. Hey, a little bit of positivity never hurt anyone, did it?
00:12From who to pick at left wing, the perfect choice for the number 10 rule and the real keys to
00:17victory at the World Cup.
00:19I'm Jacob Horsfall, 442's resident tactician, and this is why England can win the World Cup.
00:29The left wing position is a battle of two Barcelona stars, both the old and the new.
00:37Both Anthony Gordon and Marcus Rashford look set to compete for Thomas Tuchel's left wing slot, but how do they
00:43actually fit into that role?
00:45Well, the England left winger has a specific role. They've got to be a runner, they've got to stretch the
00:49pitch, and they've got to, most importantly, get in behind.
00:52Because, at right wing, we've got Bekayo Saka, who's more controlled and more ball to feet.
00:58Now, naturally, someone like Anthony Gordon feels like a pretty solid fit for that role.
01:03Gordon has always been a relentless runner in behind. He'll get in behind the opposition's defence, and then you'll shoot
01:08early and shoot very, very often.
01:10No Newcastle player generated more XG than Anthony Gordon in the league last season.
01:15Now, many may look at that and think, well, why wasn't Anthony Gordon Newcastle's top goalscorer in the Premier League?
01:21And that's a very, very fair question. But, if we look at his shot map, eight of his 29 regular
01:27play shots came from fastbreak situations.
01:30Those situations are high in XG, because Gordon will be taking his shot from either inside the box or just
01:35outside.
01:36But, when you look at the whole context, he's running at 100 miles an hour, he's got a defender often
01:41on his shoulder or even in front of him, and still got that goalkeeper to beat.
01:45So, really, the situations aren't always the easiest to actually finish from.
01:49However, in the England team, that ability to be a relentless runner, consistently get high value chances through that running,
01:56well, that's invaluable in tournament football.
01:58But, when we look at the team and we look at that left wing position, we don't just need a
02:02runner to have some success at this World Cup.
02:04England's starting left back will likely be Nico O'Reilly, and he has a huge impact on how the left
02:09wing role actually works for England.
02:12O'Reilly will not just get forward, but he will also want to make aggressive inverted runs into the box,
02:17which means this winger needs to be multifaceted.
02:20Not only do we need the movement in beyond, that goal scoring capability to move in transition, we also need
02:25someone who can be a touchline winger at times.
02:27Someone who can stretch the pitch massively and be able to go on the outside.
02:31Stable possession will limit England's winger space to get in beyond the opposition's defence, so they'll need to thrive in
02:37tight conditions.
02:38Which is why, for me, Marcus Rashford is the best option.
02:42Rashford can be terrifying when he gets to defend out 1v1, both on the inside in their sort of half
02:47space areas,
02:48and on the outside when he's looking across the ball from the byline, which England will need against those low
02:53block sides.
02:54Rashford has attempted 4.38 dribbles per 90 in La Liga, with just three other players averaging more successful dribbles
03:00than him.
03:01For me, in the current set-up that England have, Marcus Rashford is the best fit to go at left
03:06wing.
03:06Now, if Lewis Hall had gone to the World Cup, then I think Anthony Gordon could have had more of
03:11a say to get into this squad.
03:12For me, Lewis Hall is better than Nico O'Reilly on the outside.
03:16I would rather Lewis Hall be the width holder than Nico O'Reilly, which would allow Gordon to basically be
03:20that second striker,
03:22be someone who basically, again, is a number nine.
03:25But the reality is we've got Nico O'Reilly, and that's not a bad thing by any means.
03:31But because of his role as basically a second striker at large parts of the season at Man City,
03:36you expect Rashford to be the better fit because he's better on the outside, he's better by the touchline,
03:41and that is a beautiful dynamic to have for this World Cup.
03:46Now, there will be certain scenarios where Gordon plays.
03:49I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if he starts the first game against Croatia,
03:51in a game where England really need to set the tone and be really, really aggressive out of possession.
03:55If you look at the England squad, you're expecting Gordon to be someone who potentially goes forward
04:00to create almost a 4-4-2 with Harry Kane up front.
04:04But over the course of the whole tournament, as sort of an average player selection,
04:08I think you take the benefit in possession over out of possession as England,
04:12and therefore Rashford and Nico O'Reilly just makes too much sense, doesn't it?
04:16A morbid of brilliance from Berrigan!
04:18The biggest debate on social media right now is should Jude Bellingham start at the World Cup?
04:25Yes. Of course Jude Bellingham should be starting at the World Cup.
04:29It should not even be a question, but it is, so we're going to address it.
04:33This is from the New Zealand game.
04:35Now, if you look at the players that England have got here, we've got Rashford leading the line,
04:38we've got Rio Engamoa off the right, we've also got Anthony Gordon coming a little bit narrow off the left.
04:43Funnily enough, the most advanced player here is the number 10, Jude Bellingham.
04:47And that's going to be really important for England in the World Cup.
04:51Now, you might ask, why is it important if our number 10 is in an advanced position?
04:55Well, with the England team and the tendency for Harry Kane to drop deep,
04:58the number 10 has to be almost a second number 9, whilst also still being that midfield player.
05:03Jude Bellingham can do that role to a ridiculous standard,
05:06and he's proven that not just for England, but at club level for Real Madrid.
05:10And I would argue that's probably part of the reason for why people don't rate Jude Bellingham as high as
05:15they should.
05:15Because he was such a good goal scorer a few seasons ago,
05:18everyone holds him to this high standard that he should be a prolific scorer.
05:21But Bellingham's more than that. Bellingham is everything.
05:24Bellingham can do the lot, and he should be valued like that in the England national team.
05:29So for me, he slots in as our number 10, and I think he can be the star, as always,
05:34in this World Cup.
05:34He's done it time and time again for England.
05:37But I don't want to put down Morgan Rodgers' role in this England team.
05:40He can be a huge asset, he's a ridiculous ball carrier, and a chance creation machine.
05:46He created the most chances in the Villa squad this season,
05:48and completed the fourth most successful dribbles in the Villa squad as well.
05:53He can be such a big asset, especially off the bench.
05:55And I think he's someone who, if he was to play in the number 10, can do a lot of
05:58what Jude does,
05:59in the positioning stuff, in the ball carrying stuff.
06:01That is Rodgers' game, really.
06:03Thomas Tuchel said himself that Jude has competition for his spot, like anyone else.
06:08Which is right, he does. Jude Bellingham has competition.
06:10He's not going to just swan into his team, no matter if I think he should,
06:13if Gary Neville thinks he should, if you think he should.
06:16But something that gets him into this team is the big moments.
06:19No one else does it like Jude Bellingham.
06:22The overhead kick to keep England alive in the last tournament.
06:25The celebration that very swiftly followed that.
06:28Jude brings some power in those big moments that inevitably,
06:32you need to go and win the whole thing.
06:34You need that player to step up, grab the game by a scruff of the neck,
06:38outside of the system, outside of the tactics.
06:40And that's what Jude Bellingham provides England.
06:42Away from that, both Bellingham and Rodgers bring what you want from an England number 10.
06:47They can both link up with Kane and the wingers,
06:49whilst also matching the out of possession intensity of the deep end midfielders.
06:53Which takes us to the true core of this team.
06:57Video aside for a second though, here's a hypothetical question for you.
07:00Imagine you're on your holidays during the World Cup,
07:02or you're away for work and you can't get your World Cup fix.
07:06You've got your TV licence sorted to watch the BBC when you're at home,
07:09but not when you're abroad.
07:11So, what do you do?
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07:22Fast, reliable, and it comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
07:26That's enough to cover the entire World Cup tournament,
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07:31The best bit?
07:31For all 442 viewers, there's an exclusive offer available.
07:34All you've got to do is go down to the link in the description, click it, and find out more.
07:38But for now, back to the video.
07:40Declan Rice breaks the deadlock with a...
07:43The real cog in England's soon-to-be well-oiled machine comes in that midfield pivot.
07:48The base of England's midfield will more than likely be Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson,
07:52and that is so, so important.
07:54England are at their best when Declan Rice is given the freedom to make an impact
07:58and influence the game in all thirds of the pitch.
08:01Mikel Arteta recruited a deep midfielder to allow Declan Rice to play further forwards.
08:06As a result, last season he created the most chance in the Arsenal squad,
08:10yet he also had the most offensive contributions per 90.
08:13Rice does everything, and he has the ability to literally play pretty much anywhere on the pitch.
08:18But for me, we cannot limit him by having him sitting as the anchor.
08:22He has to be given the freedom to roam and influence the game in an attacking sense.
08:28Which, ladies and gentlemen, is where Elliot Anderson comes in.
08:31The debates around Elliot Anderson and Adam Wharton are completely understandable.
08:36Because we've got two young, progressive, up-and-coming midfielders playing in England at the top level.
08:42But the most important thing about a Rice partner is how they operate out of possession.
08:46Anderson won the ball in the mid-third of the pitch more than anyone else in the Premier League this
08:50season.
08:51With the England team in possession, you can expect Rice to step forward as almost a secondary number 10,
08:55which will leave Elliot Anderson as the player sitting to try to shut down attacks and recycle play.
09:00For me, there's no one else in this England set-up in England who can sit next to Rice and
09:06cover space as almost a lone anchor to the same level as Elliot Anderson.
09:11He's just a joke in that sense.
09:13If you look at this season's heatmaps of Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice next to one another,
09:16you see Anderson covering that hole mid-third width to width,
09:19whilst Rice looks to be pushing on and making those runs deeper up the pitch.
09:24Now, in an England setting, this is definitely game-dependent.
09:26You know, you're not going to have Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice playing 90 minutes in every single game,
09:30because that's not how knockout tournaments go.
09:33Against lower sides, when England are pushing on to try and get a goal,
09:36whether it be Mexico in the knockouts or even Croatia in the first group stage game,
09:41England are destined to have to make a change to get a goal late in the game.
09:46They did it at the last knockout tournament, with Cole Palmer coming on in the final, for example.
09:50That's where you get the argument for Adam Watten, and that's where it becomes its strongest,
09:54because he is a ridiculous puncher through the lines.
09:56He can play passes that not many other players can do in the final third.
10:01But, with these changes, you still need that strong base,
10:04and therefore, England's changes, Thomas Tuchel's changes, will have to be the right ones.
10:08In this sort of game state, England will have pushed everyone on,
10:11whether it's the full backs holding the width, the wingers coming inside,
10:14Harry Kane still in the box, or maybe Ollie Watkins,
10:17whilst you've got the midfielders ramming the box as well.
10:19Which is why I would replace Elliot Anderson with Kobe Mainu.
10:24The reason for that is, well, Mainu's attacking responsibility,
10:28and almost an attacking profile in some ways, isn't too far away from that of Declan Rice.
10:34Kobe Mainu carries well, he also combines nicely in those quick one-twos,
10:38and just like Declan Rice, he has that something about him to get a decisive moment in the final third,
10:44to either create or score a goal himself.
10:47On the other hand, Rice dropping in to do the Anderson role also makes a lot of sense for me,
10:52because he can do a lot of what Anderson does out of possession.
10:54It may not be his best role over the course of the entire tournament,
10:58but in games when England are really pushing for a goal,
11:00having Mainu and Rice, two pretty creative attacking type of number eights in the team,
11:06is worth sacrificing, maybe Rice not being his 100% best position,
11:10maybe sacrificing a little bit of stability in transition,
11:14because they're the sacrifices that have got to be made to go and win a tournament.
11:17Now, when you talk about winning the tournament, you've got to look at the England squad,
11:20and a lot of the England squad has already brought a ton of controversy before a ball has even been
11:25kicked.
11:25But if we look at this squad as a whole, there's something really nice here.
11:29You have complementary partnerships all over that starting XI,
11:32and then you've got almost like-for-likes in many important positions,
11:35if replacements are needed.
11:37Morgan Rodgers and Jude Bellingham can do very similar jobs,
11:40Gordon and Rashford can also do very similar jobs,
11:43and then you've also got your change layer.
11:46You've got Nori Madaweki to replace Pakaio Saka, who offers something entirely different.
11:50You've got Oli Watkins to replace Harry Kane,
11:51who is on the opposite end of a striker spectrum to Harry Kane.
11:56Don't get me wrong, I would love Adam Wharton to be there,
11:58and Cole Palmer wouldn't be amiss either,
12:01but what's the point in complaining about the 26th man?
12:04This is the starting XI that I suspect Tuca will find being his go-to team,
12:08and for me, there's quality in abundance.
12:10The connectivity between the players in possession is encouraged
12:13by how complementary those players actually are to one another.
12:17Now, England's route to a potential final will be a very, very long one,
12:21especially when you consider the fact that the media
12:23don't leave these England players alone.
12:24They couldn't take a breath without a report coming out about them.
12:28So, for them to even have a chance,
12:30for them to even be appreciating the way they should be,
12:32they're going to all have to be at their top, top form,
12:35at their very, very best to be in another chance of winning this World Cup.
12:39So, can they go and get the job done?
12:42Yeah, of course they can.
12:44We've got to believe, you can't sit here as an English fan,
12:47and say, it's not coming home.
12:49Because it is, isn't it?
12:50I've been Jacob Horsfall, this has been 442,
12:53and we'll see you all next week for more brilliant content.
12:56Like and subscribe, guys.
12:57And once again...
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