England need fearless passers and three Tuchel omissions may point the way

The post-match inquest into England’s elimination was almost over when Thomas Tuchel offered a revealing analysis of Argentina’s knack of instigating late comebacks at this World Cup.

“In their culture, ball possession plays a crucial role. It starts from a young age,” he said. “That is in the DNA and it demands a lot of self-confidence – natural self‑confidence 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.”

This time, it wasn’t meant as a dig at his own players. But after the latest example of England 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.

Despite the Football Association’s best efforts to produce players who are able to “intelligently dominate possession” as outlined when it launched its “England DNA philosophy” at St George’s 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.

Tuchel’s epitaph for this tournament will be the statistic that England had only 12% of possession between Anthony Gordon opening the scoring in the 55th minute and Lautaro Martínez’s 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’s half.

That indicates – as well as there being a lack of forward runners to put the pressure back on opponents that included a 38-year-old Nicolás Otamendi in defence for the last 20 minutes – 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.

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

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 “building the long-term systems that underpin the FA’s performance ambitions”. In other words, find a way of playing without fear when it really comes to the crunch.

“We felt them going backwards and backwards rather than going forward,” said the Argentina goalkeeper, Emiliano Martínez. “Sometimes when you are winning, you have to go forward anyway. You can’t change the gameplan.”

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.

Elliot Anderson has emerged as an England first-choice over the past 12 months and Manchester City’s £116m summer signing 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’ time on home soil.

Manchester United supporters are still scratching their heads over Kobbie Mainoo’s 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’s inclusion alongside Jordan Henderson as the back-ups to Anderson and Declan Rice meant there was no place in the squad for either Bournemouth’s Alex Scott or Myles Lewis-Skelly of Arsenal.

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 – who formed a winning partnership with Anderson at last summer’s European Under-21 Championship – standing out in Bournemouth’s win over Arsenal and draw with Manchester City that ended up defining the title race.

Lewis-Skelly’s chances of being selected for the World Cup seemed remote when he lost his place as England’s first-choice left-back. Yet after returning as an all-action midfielder who kept Spain’s Martín Zubimendi out of the Arsenal team for the title run-in and excelled against Paris Saint‑Germain midfield in the Champions League final, the 19-year-old could have provided exactly what Tuchel described as a “natural self‑confidence to always want the ball”.

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.

Like Anderson, Scott and Angel Gomes – the former United playmaker who was handed a shock call-up by Lee Carsley in 2024 – 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’t be taught.

As Ashworth and co contemplate another round of soul-searching, the answers to England’s prayers may already be here.

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