Midfield threat dilemma

MANAGER Gareth Southgate has largely stuck to his guns in terms of England’s tactical approach at this tournament but the challenge of a World Cup semifinal against Croatia today poses him a tricky dilemma.

Croatia have arguably the strongest central midfield pairing of the tournament in Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic and Real Madrid playmaker Luka Modric, while England have been playing with just one orthodox central defensive midfielder, Jordan Henderson.

Southgate’s system is built to probe for weaknesses via a trio of attacking players operating behind and around striker Harry Kane, with all three expected to contribute to the defensive work when the team does not have possession.

That means Jesse Lingard, Dele Alli and Raheem Sterling – none of whom are noted for the defensive side of their game – must put in the hard graft of closing down space and harrying their opponents.

The obvious option for Southgate would be to strengthen the middle by bringing in Eric Dier to help Henderson and shore up the middle of the park.

That would mean sacrificing one of the attacking midfield trio, however, which risks upsetting the balance of the formation and reducing England’s effectiveness with the ball.

If Southgate were to bring in Dier, it will be a very difficult decision to decide which of his attacking trio he should sacrifice.

Jesse Lingard has been excellent and is surely a certain starter, leaving the issue as a straight choice between Dele Alli, who scored in the 2-0 win over Sweden but is carrying a knock and was otherwise quiet, and Raheem Sterling.

Sterling caused Sweden plenty of problems, stretching them with his movement but missed a glorious chance and the fact he has not scored for England since October 2015 is a major concern for the most advanced of the trio.

Southgate is loyal to his players and would be reluctant to leave out the Manchester City forward. Nor will he be keen to disrupt a formation which has carried his team to the last four. – Reuters