We are all excited for Gareth Southgate’s tenure as England manager, aren’t we? Southgate is going to be England’s Vicente Del Bosque, he is going to bring football home. It is the beginning of a new dawn, a revolution of the English game under the stewardship of the understated, calm Southgate. How brilliant is this going to be?!
Okay, it probably won’t see anything change at all, but at least the manager now won’t tell certain struggling, experienced players that they can basically play wherever they like. Although it would be quite fitting of the current situation if that sort of statement was gifted to the press once again.
Tactical revolution and reinventing of the way that people see football probably is a little out of Southgate’s remit as an interim manager. All of that should obviously be left until the inevitable appointment of Alan Pardew halfway through the qualifying campaign.
Trees shan’t be pulled up, but Southgate can at least experiment in midfield, and here are THREE options…
Diamond
Tried, flirted with and subsequently ignored too often by Roy Hodgson. For a team that’s obvious strength is in its striking options and has a shortage of wingers, a two striker formation seems a necessity. Whichever strikers are paired at the top of the line-up, England must at least consider the prospect of a diamond as their standard formation.
Eric Dier has proven himself at both club and international level as a top class defensive midfielder, the player at the base of a diamond is vital in ensuring it functions. He has to patrol deep areas to allow the others to break forward and cover the flanks to suppress counter-attacks when the full-backs advance.
Jordan Henderson’s energy would fill one of the other central midfield berths, while a fully fit Adam Lallana must fit into the England team. Jack Wilshere will also compete for one of those spots, but it is Dele Alli that benefits most from using a diamond.
Alli playing in his comfortable position just behind the strikers, with the freedom to drift towards the wings, will be a huge asset for England.
Dier-Drinkwater
Danny Drinkwater is not in the current England squad, but he must be a contender for a starting role when fit. It is a little OTT to play two deep-lying midfielders in the qualifying stages, but, should England face more challenging opponents at the World Cup, they will need to have a system and defensive midfield pairing that they can rely on to stifle the opposition.
Dier can handle the defensive duties and break-up play and Drinkwater can take the responsibility of building England’s attacks and dictating the tempo from the middle third.
Either as the pairing in a conventional 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1, Drinkwater and Dier can complement each other’s games well and protect a defence that is short of both leadership and stability.
Flat three
Either taking inspiration from Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side or slotting in a No.6 for some additional defensive protection, a three-man midfield should enable England to balance their side. The greatest issue with this, however, is that it relies on there being two wingers of sufficient quality/form to start and only leaves space for one of the strikers.
Jordan Henderson would likely feature again, while Adam Lallana – when fit – and Dele Alli are the most likely to be named in the strongest XI. Danny Drinkwater or Eric Dier could play the central, deeper position, although Henderson’s good form with Liverpool might earn him the opportunity to play in that position.
For all the downsides of this system, it enables England to play with a fluidity that they have often lacked and would permit two of their attacking midfielders to roam forward.
