Gareth needs his finishers to finish the job
England’s strength in depth can be the difference
HIS star is hardly in the ascendancy right now, but Eddie Jones has always banged on about his finishers. More important than the starters he says, and the room rolls its eyes.
Yet here in Qatar, and engaged in an entirely different sport, Gareth Southgate may be about to put Jones’s theory to the test.
England have a secret weapon here, sat on the bench. In fact, the secret weapon is the bench. A swift look through the teams remaining at this World Cup reveals that, although England may not possess generational talents such as Kylian Mbappe, or the dream narrative driving Lionel Messi, although they do not have the lineage of Brazil or the technical smarts of Spain, what they do boast is a depth that should be the envy of every federation here.
France played their reserves against Tunisia and lost. A scout through reserves at some of the most hotly-tipped nations finds a roll call of Premier League alsorans, including Juan Foyth, Vincent Janssen, Alvaro Morata and Matteo Guendouzi.
That there is a debate over where Phil Foden or Bukayo Saka fit in this England team shows the wealth of talent, the impact potential if unleashed effectively.
Big if. For this is the next step in England’s evolution under Southgate and one he might be running out of time to make. He needs finishers who finish. Not who plug holes, fix leaks, put out fires. He needs a strong England to strengthen more in the areas where they can truly hurt opponents, with impact from this extraordinary bench.
Group football is different. A degree of pragmatism has served England well in this competition and previous ones with Southgate in charge. If there is a reason England have just fallen short deep in the knockout stages, it is arguably that not enough has been made of what is up his sleeve.
Against Croatia in 2018, Jamie Vardy only came on once Croatia had taken a 2-1 lead in extra time and with eight minutes remaining. In the European Championship final with Italy, Bukayo Saka replaced Kieran Trippier three minutes after Italy made it 1-1. It is reactive, not proactive. England led in both games yet seemed reluctant to make front- foot changes until initiative was lost.
At this World Cup it could make all the difference. If Saka or Marcus rashford are flying against Senegal, imagine then also finding room for Phil Foden, strengthening an already strong position? Not just as a lifeline once the tide has turned, but if England are in front.
Imagine introducing Saka against Italy when leading 1-0. What would that have done? Potentially, changed roberto Mancini’s plans. Then, he would have had to address what England were doing, the fresh attacking threat being posed, rather than being able to dictate the game, as happened.
It does not always have to be an attacking player coming on either. If Declan rice and Jordan Henderson are controlling midfield, it creates even bigger problems for the opposition for another body to close down that area entirely.
England under Southgate have mastered group stage qualification. They are increasingly confident in the early knockout rounds. What is eluding them is that finish. The certainty that, when in a commanding position, they can do more than grimly cling on. Henderson has been it all at this tournament so far — unused substitute against Iran, on after 69 minutes against the United States and a starter versus Wales. He also played for a Liverpool team who went so close on so many occasions, before finally winning the Premier League and becoming champions of Europe.
This is his sixth major tournament and he has been around the block there a few times, too. His first was the European Championship in 2012 and, since then, he has known what it was like to go out after two games at the World Cup group stage (2014), to look on as an unused sub at defeat by Iceland (2016), to lose a World Cup semi-final (2018) and a European Championship final (2021).
After missing in a penalty shootout against Colombia at the last World Cup, he returned to the team base in repino and practised from the spot so hard the repetition almost put him out of the tournament with a groin strain. So he knows the worth of the squad player, the bench man. He knows the role that can be played.
‘I feel the lads who have come on in games, whether that was against Iran, the USA or Wales, have made a real impact,’ said Henderson. ‘ That’s huge in football now, definitely. No matter what stage the game is at you always need your subs to perform straight away at the highest level.
‘I haven’t really looked too closely at the substitutes for the other teams, but I’m sure Brazil’s bench isn’t too bad (he’s not wrong, against Switzerland it included Gabriel Jesus, Bruno Guimaraes, Ederson, Fabinho, Gabriel Martinelli and Antony) and when I was watching Spain they brought on top, top players like Jordi Alba and Ansu Fati. So they are really exciting, but with experience as well, a good mixture.
‘For us as a team, though, there is depth, a lot of options for the manager to go with in terms of starting games and then bringing people on, to change formations depending on who we’re playing and how the game is going. There’s a lot of hungry players wanting to play, too.
‘ I have always thought the people that don’t play as much, but train every day, are really important in tournament football, even more now with five subs. It’s always important to support the lads who are working every day, pushing those who are picked. It can be really difficult for them at times, particularly being away for a long period.
‘I’d say the togetherness of this group is the closest it’s been. I thought 2018 was, but we’ve been through things together in russia, been through the Euros, and experiences like that do make you stronger. I feel we’re in a really good place together at the moment, with a really good team spirit, the work ethic and intensity in training.
‘Everybody wants to play but at the same time there’s that respect. It really helps when you’re close as a team. It gets you over difficult moments, certain things that happen in games when you need to stay together.
‘I suppose you could see similarities with Liverpool in terms of getting so close and just failing. When you go through experiences together, especially not ones you wanted, it can really hurt.
‘Personally, the defeats always stay. I always remember them more than the wins. The defeats stick with me, a lot. You never get rid of that feeling. That’s happened at Liverpool and also England. We have suffered over the last few tournaments but it makes you come closer together and want to put things right.’
Not as easy as it sounds. Senegal, tomorrow’s opponents, are the African champions and getting energised by creating a false narrative of an arrogant, complacent England side, already thinking of a potential quarterfinal with France.
Nothing could be further from the truth, yet confidence is a different matter. England have great strengths in reserve. They have match-winners, they have finishers. If this is to be Southgate’s last tilt at a tournament, now is the time to utilise that.