How England can copy Tottenham and become an international force
- Oli Gent
- Oct 16, 2018
- 5 min read
You can’t deny it, England’s 3-2 Nations League win over Spain in Seville was nothing short of astonishing.
The change of formation, a 4-3-3, Manchester City and Liverpool’s system, was enough to liberate the creative forces in Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford that had been missing back in Russia at the World Cup, while Harry Kane bullied Sergio Ramos and Nacho Fernandez through the middle.
Astonishing, and progress. Gareth Southgate had made it clear that his players weren’t to get carried away or disheartened after their miraculous run to the World Cup semi-finals, and it seemed as though those words had done the trick as the Three Lions roared out of the blocks in Seville, Sterling smashing England in front just past quarter of an hour, before Rashford raced through to poke home and double the money. The flamboyant City winger was at it again as he tapped home a third after a swift, fluid counter attack following a Spanish corner.
But it all goes back to that idea of progress, and how can Southgate inspire his side to get even better and produce even healthier results than those of last night and over the summer?
In Russia, England played the 3-5-1-1, with Kane spearheading the attack and Sterling floating in and around the hole behind the number nine. It meant that Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard, the two central midfielders flanking Jordan Henderson in the five, were to be the ones to get up the field and support Kane and Sterling with runs into the channel or late into the box.
The trouble with that system, though, was that the Three Lions could sometimes look toothless in attack, with Kane and Sterling isolated figures at times, and often being crowded out when trying to hold up the play.
The rigidity of the five across the midfield, although intended to be fluid with the runs of Alli and Lingard in behind, was a stumbling block that hindered England’s creativity throughout the tournament and was particularly seen in the knockout stages of the competition, namely against Colombia and Croatia.
But how, you ask, can Southgate steal Mauricio Pochettino’s blueprint at Spurs and turn our soldiers in white into international heavyweights?
The first way of doing this is continuing his faith with a back three, allowing the ball-playing nature of his trio of centre-halves to start attacks from defence. Pochettino does this at Spurs because he is lucky enough to have three of the best in the league: Davinson Sanchez at the heart, Jan Vertonghen on the left and his compatriot Toby Alderweireld on the right. All three are known for their comfort in possession and with the Argentine’s policy of keeping the ball on the deck, his defensive trio are well accomplished with this style of play.
It is much the same with England, with the way they played in Russia. Kyle Walker put in decent shifts on the right, regardless of how unconvincing he was with his defensive positioning, while John Stones and Harry Maguire revelled in the centre and on the left.
The only reason Walker played where he did in Russia was the fact that Joe Gomez was ruled out, and the Liverpool youngster would probably have started had he not been injured. That would have meant no Kieran Trippier, and Walker would have gone to a more advanced position at right wing-back.
Trippier put in some unbelievable performances for the Lions, defensively and offensively, but the fact that Walker would have been better utilised at right wing-back is a given. Adding Gomez to the back three while replacing the Trippier with Walker would mean that there would be more impetus on the right going forward for England, with the City man’s raw pace and attacking ability. It would also mean that there would now be three natural ball-players at the back for England.
Although Pochettino likes the structured nature of the 4-2-3-1 and he had some success with a 3-5-2 at the start of the campaign with Lucas Moura up front with Kane, he has utilised the 3-4-2-1 with a flat four shielding the defence. In the engine room, he would usually have an anchor man to sit in and protect the ball-playing centre-halves, who were in danger of being caught out if they were robbed of possession. Eric Dier or Victor Wanyama usually does this job for Spurs, and Dier would be the go-to man for Southgate, due to his knowledge of the system as well as defensive and on-the-ball capabilities.
Alongside this anchor man, Argentinian Pochettino would have a more dynamic, free-roaming man to add drive to the midfield and support to the three attackers. This would usually be Mousa Dembele due to his gazelle-like dribbling ability, mixed in with his bullish box-to-box nature in winning back possession. Harry Winks has also played this role, but despite the youngster’s impressive performance on the side of a midfield three, he won’t get the nod for this one.
Instead, it would be the other name that was flanking Dier in Seville, Ross Barkley of Chelsea, who put in a tireless shift on the left before being replaced by Walker with 15 minutes to go. The former Everton man’s physicality, as well as his technical ability, makes him the ideal candidate to line up alongside Dier in the central midfield duo. Furthermore, the Scouser has been performing well for Chelsea, impressing Maurizio Sarri with his energetic and never-say-die performances.
To complete the four, Luke Shaw would get the nod over Danny Rose, mainly due to his physical superiority over the Spurs man. Having impressed as a left wing-back on Manchester United’s pre-season tour, he has since earned a return to the England setup and a new £160,000 a week contract at Old Trafford. The former Southampton product is another attacking full-back who loves to affect the game in the final third, and his crossing statistics have improved significantly since his return to the United fold.
But despite the Spurs manager’s love for a sturdy defensive base, the real emphasis is on his three primary outlets in attack. For Tottenham, two of them happen to be English: Alli and Kane, while the other is a Dane called Christian Eriksen. It’s a slightly amended 3-4-3, with Eriksen and Alli coming into more central areas in and around the box to have maximum effect, while the wing-backs hug the side lines to give width.
With Alli and Eriksen floating behind Kane, it means that the Spurs captain is fed, as well as supported, something which can often lack in a 4-2-3-1 or 3-5-1-1 setup. In a 3-4-2-1, Alli and potentially Raheem Sterling can be the ones to drift and roam freely behind Kane, with the City winger perhaps drifting a bit wider than Alli.
The freedom of the two behind Kane would mean that he is supported in the box as well as on the edge of it, with Alli encouraged to join his club mate in the 18-yard, and Sterling stimulated to attack the far post, where many of his tap-ins came from last season for City.
Overall, the fluidity of the 3-4-2-1 would be ideal for a youthful, energetic England side, with the modern-day pressing style customary within this blueprint. It is the way that Tottenham look to defend, pushing high up the field looking to peg defences back. Kane, Alli and Sterling are used to this system at club level, as are Walker, Dier and Barkley in the midfield four.
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