AS the World Cup semi-final began to slide from England’s grasp, the great flaw in Gareth Southgate’s team became clear.
As Croatia’s full-backs pushed higher and the flow of crosses became steadier, England needed a way of blocking up the flanks, but to do that, they needed more control at the back of midfield, somebody to sit in front of the defensive line, block the space Luka Modric kept passing through and hold possession in a way that would have checked Croatia’s flow.
As it was, poor Jordan Henderson ended up performing shuttle runs across the pitch, dragged this way and that and the whole edifice came falling down.
Welcome to @StGeorgesPark, @_DeclanRice! #threelions pic.twitter.com/kx923ULPxV
— England (@England) March 18, 2019
It’s fair to ask why Southgate wasn’t able to come up with a solution, whether England, with a half-time lead, couldn’t have switched to something more akin to a 5-4-1 to try to block those spaces. But this was also an age-old problem exposed: England, historically, have always preferred running about, trying to be more energetic than their opponents, than controlling games.
In other cultures, the deep-lying central midfielder is often a playmaker; in England he has historically been a destructive force whose main job is to protect his defence and regain possession – which in part explains the bewilderment over Maurizio Sarri’s use of N’Golo Kante and Jorginho at Chelsea.
And that is why Declan Rice could prove so useful to English football. He looks to have all the attributes to fill the one serious weakness in this England team.
That’s not to criticise Henderson necessarily, who seems to have been unfortunate in two critical ways. Firstly, there is, as Alex Ferguson acknowledged, something slightly strange about his running style which means he will never look graceful, something that perhaps affects perceptions of his ability.
Jordan Henderson has pulled out of the England squad for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifier games due to injury.
He has been replaced by Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse. pic.twitter.com/8YqKoWLY8J
— England Football Fans (@EnglidsAway) March 18, 2019
And, more seriously, he is a player slightly out of time. In a previous age, Henderson might have been a box-to-box player in the mould of Bryan Robson, somebody who did the defensive work but also got forwards to offer an attacking threat.
Modern football, though, struggles with such players – Paul Pogba has a similar problem – because midfields tend to function in two bands, one attacking and one defensive. Pogba tends, of course, to the former; Henderson, a willing worker and learner, has tended to the latter.
He is good at it. You don’t get to be the captain of Liverpool and occasionally England without aptitude for the role you’re playing. But he is not a natural at it. Whether Southgate’s preferred shape ends up being the 3-5-2 of the World Cup or the 4-3-3 he has used since, it’s hard to shake the thought that, against high-class opposition at least, Henderson’s best role within it may be on the right of the central midfielder three.
But that then leaves the question of who can play in that vital role position at the back of midfield. Eric Dier, after early promise, seems to have become a little ponderous. Rice, though, seems to have everything. Much of the coverage of him over the past few days has focused on his switch of nationality, but if that can be left aside and Rice can settle in the England side, he could be what transforms them from decent side into being a regular challenger for trophies over the next few years.
Declan Rice has made more tackles (60) and more interceptions (36) than any other midfielder under the age of 21 in Europe's top five leagues this season.
No wonder there was a tussle. https://t.co/EnTfArOjYU
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 13, 2019
He has the attributes. Defensive statistics can be deceptive because so much depends on positioning and opportunity but the fact that only five players have made more tackles per game than him in the Premier League this season suggests an aptitude for that side of the game particularly in a player who has collected only two yellow cards; he is not wildly clattering into people but timing his challenges. But Rice also has a pass completion rate of over 85 per cent and has weighed in with two goals, both of them neatly taken.
He is an all-round gifted footballer and one who plays in just the position England were lacking. It would be absurd to get too carried away before Rice has even played a second for England. Football regularly defies expectation and players who seem the ideal solution at times do not fit in.
The emerging generations from England’s youth set-up have, anyway, been the cause of much excitement but Rice seems to fill an immediate need.
