One of the most frustrating experiences for football fans at the start of every season is the two-week international break that brings a pause to the grind and momentum of club football.
During this period, there is little for bored fans to keep themselves entertained with, but the October 2024 international break was a bit of an exception.
Much has centered around the pick of England’s talented attacking players and how they fit into the starting lineup. The trio of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer and their roles within the England setup formed a huge debate throughout their EURO 2024 campaign.
Gareth Southgate’s subsequent exit promised to birth a solution to this ‘problem’ and England fans were behind potentially handing Lee Carsley the job on a permanent basis. However, his first major test was seeing how he would deploy Foden, Palmer and Bellingham together in his team.
For the first time he had all three available for a game, the caretaker England boss opted to start five attack-minded players without a natural centre-forward against Greece. Bellingham was asked to fill a ‘false nine’ role, with Anthony Gordon, Bukayo Saka and Foden all behind him and Palmer strangely deployed from a deep-lying position alongside Declan Rice.
This game plan back-fired as the fired-up Greek players effortlessly found space to hurt the hosts on the counterattack. Star striker Vangelis Pavlidis then found some space to fire past Jordan Pickford from close range in the 49th minute.
Greece were unfortunate to be denied a second goal by marginal offside calls, until Bellingham popped up on the edge of the box to drag England level in the dying embers. However, Greece got their deserved win with Pavlidis’ second goal to snatch all three points deep in stoppage time.
Carsley would come in for fair criticism after his all-out approach at Wembley was badly exposed, and they bounced back on Matchday 4 in a 3-1 win over Finland.
It was by no means a vintage showing from the Three Lions as Carsley made a few changes including starting Angel Gomes, Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish and Kane while Trent Alexander-Arnold moved to left-back and Palmer switched to right-wing in place of the injured Saka.
Gomes delivered an outrageous pass into the path of Grealish to score his second goal in three games under Carsley. After holding the one-goal lead for most of the game, England’s second was worth the wait as Trent Alexander-Arnold delivered an excellent free-kick into Lukas Hradecky’s top corner.
Declan Rice tapped home to seal a comfortable lead in the 84th minute and although it was an underwhelming performance, it was ultimately satisfying for England. It is clear that Kane remains crucial to the team, but his recent struggles for fitness may also be underwhelming the team.
But is this attacking midfield conundrum close to being solved?
That is a question the incoming England manager will have to answer, as Thomas Tuchel was announced as the new Three Lions boss in a stunning turn of events. The German will start his new job on January 1 with English coach Anthony Barry joining him as an assistant after working with him at Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
Tuchel becomes England’s third foreign coach after Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello, as a whirlwind week has seen the team go from the stable leadership of an interim manager to the appointment of a serial winner on an 18-month contract.
The speed at which the story developed was certainly a surprise but it signals England’s intent to get over the line and finally win a major international tournament. Tuchel boasts considerable elite-level experience having led Chelsea to UEFA Champions League glory in 2021 and also coaching world-class talents at Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.
Notably, Kane scored 44 goals in 45 matches under Tuchel at Bayern Munich, averaging a goal every 89 minutes and they will need him firing at his best at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The set-up behind England’s record goalscorer will be Tuchel’s biggest conundrum as he resumes his new role.
Can Tuchel get England’s golden talents firing?
Despite reaching the EURO 2024 final, England were shorn of any attacking fluidity as their big names struggled to perform at their usual standards. There was a glaring lack of balance across the centre of the park as Rice was without a midfield partner to enable them to control ball possession.
Further forward, Bukayo Saka delivered with his constant threat on the right wing but Phil Foden was far less comfortable on the left while Jude Bellingham filtered in and out of games. Gareth Southgate failed to make the big decision whether to drop one of his underwhelming forwards or reshuffle the pack with Bellingham dropping deeper into midfield to allow Foden to occupy the no. 10 role behind Kane.
The ex-England manager resigned immediately after the European Championship and left his successor with a number of decisions to make concerning the balance of the team.
Carsley was only given six matches to lead the Three Lions for the rest of the year, but he is far from solving the attacking midfield puzzle.
While Bellingham was England’s most advanced forward against Greece, he constantly dropped deep to link play and win possession back, but his threat in the box was limited as a result of this. Watkins and Solanke’s introductions in the second half allowed him to arrive into the box as he so often does and he popped up at the right time to equalise in the 87th minute.
This suggests that the 21-year-old’s role will align with his deeper role at club level this season, although there will be others knocking on the door to get back in the team.
Jack Grealish is proving he is ready to reclaim his place after being left out of the EUROs squad, Alexander-Arnold showed why he deserves a starting place going forward, and Rice enjoyed a fluid midfield synergy with Gomes in the match against Finland.
Pertinently, the ex-Manchester United man was comfortable dictating play from deep which gave Rice the freedom to roam and make an impact further forward. The Arsenal man made a number of late runs into the box and got what he deserved by scoring England’s third goal of the game.
Despite recording three wins and a defeat from his four games so far, Carsley’s spell may be best remembered for finding Rice’s best partner and solving one half of the midfield conundrum.
Tuchel must now make a ruthless decision on the starters in his forward line and the 51-year-old will not hesitate to pursue the perfect balance for his set-up.
The new England manager has a proven track record of silverware and he is the right profile to take this team to the next level. His knowledge of the English players is vast thanks to his successful spell at Chelsea, and you can be sure that there will be no holds barred in his quest for triumph at the 2026 World Cup.
