Maybe Thomas Tuchel is right: you can’t combine three into two. The England manager has publicly declared that Harry Kane, Jody Bellingham and Phil Foden cannot play effectively in the same line-up, and Thursday’s 2-0 win over Serbia provided some justification for that view.
The last 25 minutes of this match were by far the most interesting. Tuchel currently appears to be sticking to a 4-2-3-1 system, so the formation remains unchanged. But when he made four substitutions and England were 1-0 up through Bukayo Saka’s first-half strike, England fans saw something different.
Kane was drawn along with Morgan Rogers, who was selected to start at number ten. They were replaced by Foden in the false nine with Bellingham at the back. Eberechi Eze replaced Marcus Rashford on the left flank while midfielder Jordan Henderson was introduced in place of Declan Rice, allowing Elliot Anderson to press and influence the game more in the final third.
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The end result was the best football in England that night. Three minutes from time, Bellingham fed Foden, who found Eze with his brilliant flick. The Arsenal winger’s shot rebounded off the crossbar, but after three minutes the trio was unblocked. Bellingham moved forward and found Foden who in turn played a perfectly weighted pass in front of Eze. This time, his first effort was unerringly deflected into the top corner.
Serbia was tired and looking to achieve a goal that could have kept its hopes of qualifying alive. However, this combination was an interesting glimpse into a different dynamic.
Interestingly, Tuchel chose to name-check a couple of players not in the squad – including Brighton’s Danny Welbeck, 34, who last featured in September 2018 – when it was put to him that Foden could be a ‘Plan B’ for Kane. “It’s definitely a chance if Phil stays in this shape and form, I have no problem,” he said. “I have some other options in mind which I don’t want to discuss publicly. Don’t forget we have Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), we have Welbeck, and maybe more No. 9s. He’s also very different to Harry.”
“So I think we will have options, and maybe it will come down to who is in good form, what do we already have in the team and how do we want to share the minutes, which opponent will we play against, and what do we expect from the game? But it was very good today.”
Tuchel’s pre-match assertion that Foden should not be included in the squad as a winger – something his predecessor, Gareth Southgate, did at Euro 2024 – has inevitably intensified scrutiny over the squad he will select.
For his part, Foden admitted last January that “the position in which I was appointed on the left side was very difficult to influence the match” during the tournament. His use as a false midfielder for England is an innovative development, and something Southgate has never pursued. But at club level, Foden played there under Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City coach, before the arrival of striker Erling Haaland, and sometimes after.
Tuchel, who managed Chelsea for 18 months during 2021 and 2022, has not forgotten the matter. Tuchel explained: “The idea came to me several months ago because I played against Phil in this kind of situation – I had the feeling in the Premier League several years ago, it was really difficult with his little movements, his counter-movements, his little runs.” “City were very dominant. They had positions in the pockets, in the half-turns. He would shoot, play one-on-ones and then get off the ball a little bit and make an assist. You couldn’t catch him.
“When we made the long list of 50 to 60 players, of course he has great quality and I was hoping to nominate him for the first camp and he went through a difficult period at City. Then he came back. … I wanted to see him close to the opposition penalty area, in the middle of traffic surrounded by a lot of players. I think he gave an excellent performance. In games where we need to open up a deep opponent, he can always be an option.”
Kane’s position in this team is unparalleled. As the country’s all-time leading goalscorer, at the peak of his form for Bayern Munich and the main driver of England’s off-field standards, there is no doubt he will start at next summer’s World Cup, barring injury. The role of Kane’s understudy has not been secured by anyone for a very long time. Rashford and Watkins have been used in this capacity, although, in fairness, it is a somewhat unhappy assignment given the quality and durability of Kane. Opportunities are limited.
But if England are to thrive in the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer, a strong lineup may be needed. With Rogers and Kane looking to be first choice at the moment, as well as Bellingham and Foden, there is an interesting range of options. This is before Cole Palmer returns to Chelsea.
Out wide, Rashford threatened but faltered in the final third. Ez was a stronger threat. At the other end, Saka provided a great moment of quality in the match until England took the lead late on. The collective result was that 12 different England players created a chance against Serbia, the highest number in a single match since records began in 2013. England now travel to Albania on the back of a perfect seven qualifying wins, scoring 20 goals and yet to concede.
Tuchel’s management of this team is still based on merit, not reputation. It would have been an easy task to get Bellingham back into the starting lineup after the uproar over his omission from the team last month, but Rogers has excelled in this playoff campaign so far.
Tuchel added: “Morgan deserved to stay on the field because he gave him three great performances, and secondly, we did not know what would happen if our plan was correct with high pressure.”
“It would be unfair for Judd to try to figure it all out because we’ve changed the way we press in the last two camps. Declan (Rice), Morgan (Rogers) and Harry (Kane) have already done that in three or four games together. I thought they could adapt a little quicker. Once we see the formation, we can give clear instructions to Phil and Judd and bring them on from the bench.”
Time will tell, but diversity could serve England well.
