This may sound radical, but here is my plan for England to win the World Cup – change the three attacking players behind Harry Kane at half-time.
We know conditions are going to be limiting and we have seen that already with the temperatures in North America and Mexico. Thomas Tuchel has also warned about matches being slow and potentially won by his ‘special teams’ from the bench late in the game. I agree with him – this World Cup will be won by attacking players who are fresh.
So why not quicken things up and play to our strengths? There is so much debate as to who should play on the left, who should play in the middle, who should play on the right. It is because we have brilliant options in all of those positions.
My solution – play them all! If it is Anthony Gordon who starts on the left, tell him: ‘Forget about conserving energy, you’ve got 45 minutes, give it everything you’ve got, empty the tank’. Then, at half-time, on comes Marcus Rashford. Make one player from two. This rotation also means they can go again a few days later.
It can be the same at No 10. Be it Jude Bellingham or Morgan Rogers who starts, send them out with the same message – don’t pace yourself, run yourself into the ground and get us ahead.
Jude Bellingham is at the centre of England’s selection dilemmas at the World Cup
Michael Owen suggests England should substitute three for their forwards at half-time
If it was me, and I knew I only had 45 minutes, I would be giving it absolutely everything to make my mark. I believe it would sharpen a player’s mindset, especially at this level and on this stage.
Also, opponents will be expecting teams to feel their way into games. Energy and intensity from the off would shock them, and we have the players to do it.
But I also think, for perhaps the first time ever in football, there is a strong argument for starting with what you might consider the understudies in those positions, even though there is not too much between them.
We’ve been obsessed for years over starting XIs – who is ahead of who, who will be dropped. Now, with the size and quality of the squads, there is a case for keeping a player like Bellingham for the second half. We have seen what a ‘moments’ player he can be.
And if those big moments, at this World Cup especially, are going to come later in matches, that is when you want him on the pitch, fresh against tired legs. Maybe that is the same with Bukayo Saka, especially if he’s only 80-90 per cent fit right now.
Five substitutions are allowed at the World Cup and, during the group stage in particular, we should be able to manage with two others beyond swapping the three forwards. Maybe you only need to change two of the three at half-time.
Either way, make it a pre-match tactic that everyone is signed up to – hit the ground running and hit the opposition hard. Then, after half-time, boom, here are another three world-class players to run at you.
We have to think of something different if we are to make it to the final. I don’t look at any team and think, ‘Oh my God, they’re unbeatable’. International football does not work like that anymore.
But there are others, such as France, who are stronger than us, and that is why I’m proposing a plan that can give us an edge. Our strength is in attack, not really at the back. I have concerns about our defence against the very best. So, get on the front foot and make it about us.
Thomas Tuchel has warned about games being slow and potentially won by his ‘special teams’
Bellingham, Rogers, Gordon, Rashford, Saka and Noni Madueke on the right, there is explosive pace and quality among all of them. Get them running beyond Kane, get them pulling defenders out of position to create space for Kane. Space for Bellingham, even. I think there is more motivation and focus in doing that if you know you’ve got one half in which to do it.
This would also work as a strategy to get ahead of the conditions – don’t be intimidated by them, find a way to own them and put yourself in control.
Remember, it’s the players in these forward positions who set the tone in terms of how you press and how you take the game to the opposition. They dictate the tempo as much as the midfielders behind them.
I said it was radical, but I’m not sure England can win this tournament if they just do the same as everyone else. Set-pieces are another point of focus and potential for difference, but that does not mean every game has to be stodgy and slow and waiting for a free-kick or corner. That, for me, limits your margin for victory.
Our best players are in attack – back them and let them do what they do best.
Now that the tournament is underway, I’ll make my prediction of who will lift the trophy on July 19 – and I think that will be France.
Their attacking players, the quality and the depth, are better than any other country, including England. They have the best squad, a manager in Didier Deschamps who has won it before and some players who have been to the last two finals.
My dark horses? I have a feeling Germany could take us by surprise, although it shouldn’t be that much of a shock given their pedigree at major tournaments. I was saying this before they scored seven against Curacao on Sunday by the way…
