{"id":546013,"date":"2026-07-17T12:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/546013\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T12:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:35:10","slug":"england-need-fearless-passers-and-three-tuchel-omissions-may-point-the-way-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/546013\/","title":{"rendered":"England need fearless passers and three Tuchel omissions may point the way | England"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post-match inquest into England\u2019s elimination was almost over when Thomas Tuchel offered a revealing analysis of Argentina\u2019s knack of instigating late comebacks at this World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn their culture, ball possession plays a crucial role. It starts from a young age,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is in the DNA and it demands a lot of self-confidence \u2013 natural self\u2011confidence to always want the ball, to always be in the gaps, to always define yourself through the ball. I think that is a crucial thing: to show courage.\u201d<\/p>\n

This time, it wasn\u2019t meant as a dig at his own players. But after the latest example of England<\/a> surrendering a lead that can be traced all the way back to the 2002 World Cup in Japan, when Michael Owen scored in the 23rd minute against Brazil before the team tried to defend for their lives and failed, there was no avoiding the underlying message.<\/p>\n

Despite the Football Association\u2019s best efforts to produce players who are able to \u201cintelligently dominate possession\u201d as outlined when it launched its \u201cEngland DNA philosophy\u201d at St George\u2019s Park back in December 2014, there is still a shortage of top-class central midfielders with the technical skills required to win a World Cup semi-final.<\/p>\n

Elliot Anderson should be capable of mixing it with the best at the European Championship in 2028. Photograph: Jewel Samad\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Tuchel\u2019s epitaph for this tournament will be the statistic that England had only 12% of possession<\/a> between Anthony Gordon opening the scoring in the 55th minute and Lautaro Mart\u00ednez\u2019s winner in the second minute of stoppage time. Equally as damning is that, of the 39 passes they attempted in that period, 12 came from the goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford, while only five took place in Argentina\u2019s half.<\/p>\n

That indicates \u2013 as well as there being a lack of forward runners to put the pressure back on opponents that included a 38-year-old Nicol\u00e1s Otamendi in defence for the last 20 minutes \u2013 that England were unable to play their way out of trouble when Argentina pressed high up the pitch and ended up giving the ball straight back.<\/p>\n

\u201cEngland teams sense changing moments in the game both in and out of possession, reacting instinctively and intelligently,\u201d reads the DNA philosophy that was devised by Dan Ashworth, who was the FA\u2019s director of elite development in 2014. Ashworth returned to St George\u2019s Park last May after his ill-fated spell as Manchester United\u2019s sporting director. He had left the FA for Brighton in 2019 before moving to Newcastle three years later.<\/p>\n

His remit after returning last May in the newly created role of chief football officer to work alongside the technical director, John McDermott, was to oversee the regeneration of the National Football Centre as well as \u201cbuilding the long-term systems that underpin the FA\u2019s performance ambitions\u201d. In other words, find a way of playing without fear when it really comes to the crunch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt them going backwards and backwards rather than going forward,\u201d said the Argentina goalkeeper, Emiliano Mart\u00ednez. \u201cSometimes when you are winning, you have to go forward anyway. You can\u2019t change the gameplan.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the academy system in England has become the envy of most countries given the resources at the disposal of Premier League clubs, it has still not found a way of producing technically gifted players who are capable of running games from midfield. But there have been signs that things may be starting to change.<\/p>\n

Myles Lewis-Skelly up against Paris Saint-Germain\u2019s D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9 in the Champions League final. The Arsenal man could have made a difference for England. Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Elliot Anderson has emerged as an England first-choice over the past 12 months and Manchester City\u2019s \u00a3116m summer signing<\/a> is at the forefront of a new generation of midfielders who look capable of mixing it with the best at the European Championship in two years\u2019 time on home soil.<\/p>\n

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Manchester United supporters are still scratching their heads over Kobbie Mainoo\u2019s lack of game time given his skill set was a key factor in their revival under Michael Carrick in the second half of last season. Mainoo\u2019s inclusion alongside Jordan Henderson as the back-ups to Anderson and Declan Rice meant there was no place in the squad for either Bournemouth\u2019s Alex Scott or Myles Lewis-Skelly of Arsenal.<\/p>\n

It could be argued that they were the two in-form midfielders in the country during the final month of the Premier League season, with Scott \u2013 who formed a winning partnership with Anderson at last summer\u2019s European Under-21 Championship<\/a> \u2013 standing out in Bournemouth\u2019s win over Arsenal and draw with Manchester City<\/a> that ended up defining the title race.<\/p>\n

Lewis-Skelly\u2019s chances of being selected for the World Cup seemed remote when he lost his place as England\u2019s first-choice left-back. Yet after returning as an all-action midfielder who kept Spain\u2019s Mart\u00edn Zubimendi out of the Arsenal team for the title run-in and excelled against Paris Saint\u2011Germain midfield in the Champions League final, the 19-year-old could have provided exactly what Tuchel described as a \u201cnatural self\u2011confidence to always want the ball\u201d.<\/p>\n

Both look destined to play important roles for England, although whether that is the case with Mainoo or Adam Wharton will be intriguing to see.<\/p>\n

Like Anderson, Scott and Angel Gomes \u2013 the former United playmaker who was handed a shock call-up by Lee Carsley in 2024 \u2013 Wharton began his career as a No 10 before shifting to a deeper role. Tuchel does not seem to trust the Crystal Palace midfielder but he has the passing range and ability to unlock defences, not to mention a confidence and swagger on the ball that can\u2019t be taught.<\/p>\n

As Ashworth and co contemplate another round of soul-searching, the answers to England\u2019s prayers may already be here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post-match inquest into England\u2019s elimination was almost over when Thomas Tuchel offered a revealing analysis of Argentina\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546014,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-546013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}