Are we about to see how far the tactical flexibility of Gareth Southgate has come?
The England manager has shown a penchant for what many have considered a more defensive five at the back. Although it probably depends if you’re a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty type of person: a 5-2-3 can also be seen as a 3-4-3, and, anyway, in action on the pitch it’s normally a bit of both.
Whichever way you see it, Southgate deployed the system in the Euro 2020 final, when after losing on penalties he was criticised for not being bold enough.
And he used it for the first knockout game against Germany. Yet for the other five games, it was a conventional back four, three central midfielder and three forwards.
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Though Luke Shaw, extremely likely now to start the opening game against Iran on the left side of defence, can play as a left wing-back, he and Kieran Trippier, who is expected to play on the right, feel more suited to good old-fashioned full-backs.
And the unexpected inclusion of James Maddison in the squad points to Southgate thinking he will require plenty of flexibility if England expect to go all the way. Maddison feels more suited to the attacking edge of a central midfield, than on the wing of a front three.
England’s World Cup 2022 squad
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Coady (Everton), Eric Dier (Spurs), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Man City), Ben White (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), James Maddison (Leicester), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Man City), Declan Rice (West Ham)
Forwards: Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Man City), Harry Kane (Spurs), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Man City), Callum Wilson (Newcastle)
Southgate certainly believes he can be a more perfect fit in some circumstances, conceding that “there’s been moments where we were playing 4-3-3” and had “no number 10-type profile” to fit comfortable behind Harry Kane.
That Southgate revealed that, in Maddison’s three years out of the England squad, there were some moments, presumably when he was choosing a midfield trio, where Maddison “has been close and we have probably decided that Foden and Mount in those sorts of areas were stronger”, but that “he is right in the mix now”, speaks volumes.
“We want to be able to adapt to anything,” Southgate added. “I don’t think we can wed ourselves to one way. We want to make sure we’re positive, we’ve put a lot of attacking players in.
“And we’ve got to find the best way for this group. I know there’s always a view on what our preference is, but our preference has always been to find the best way with the group we’ve got available to win matches.
“We’ve got to find that with this group. We’ve got a lot of strength in some areas and less cover in others, so we’ve got to bear that in mind when we’re selecting.”
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