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Finally, the FIFA World Cup 2018 has concluded with France being deservedly crowned as new world champions. The tournament, in particular, had its fair share of surprises and upsets. Some big names failed to impress and new heroes emerged. The curse of defending champions struck again and the tiny nation of Croatia shocked the world by reaching the final.
On the other hand, Gareth Southgate and his young English troops surprised one and all by finishing in the top four of the World cup. The nation which is home to the richest league in the world has every reason to feel proud of its football team as they have already outdone the achievements of the so-called Golden Generation.
The team led by inspirational striker Harry Kane exceeded all expectation on route to reaching its first World Cup semifinal in nearly three decades. After years of underachieving, the football team finally recaptured nations imagination with its heroics. This lot of you players is expected to spearhead the British nation into the new dawn of English football for many years to come.
But the bigger challenges lie ahead with UEFA Nations League and Euro 2020 qualifying in coming months. England are in a tough group for UEFA Nations League along with Spain and World Cup finalist Croatia who beat them in the semi-final.
Gareth Southgate will have a lot of positives but at the same time will have to work on grey areas in all the departments:
Goalkeeping
Jordon Pickford has firmly established himself as the undisputed number one for English national team at least for foreseeable future with some fine displays especially in Knockout stages of the world cup.
He had an impressive save percentage of 68 per cent but more importantly, he looked assured with his passing and marshalled his defence quite well. Pickford is quite young and Southgate will expect him to keep on improving and not go the Joe Hart way.
But England will need some solid backup options as well. With likes of Jack Butland, Nick Pope and Tom Heaton, Southgate has exactly that. Only concern is their lack of experience at the international level. With Joe Hart's club future still uncertain, Southgate can also call upon Ben Foster or Fraser Forster if he needs experience in the goalkeeping department.
Defence
Southgate had opted to use the three men defence formation with Kyle Walker, John Stones Harry Maguire starting five of the seven matches. The defence looked solid most of the time with occasional lapses in concentration(especially against Croatia) hurting them very badly. Harry Maguire and John Stones barely put a foot wrong throughout the tournament and the duo also popped up with one and two goals respectively from the corners.
Walker also had a decent tournament on the right side of the defence. All three defenders were successfully able to implement managers philosophy of playing out from the back. Stones, Maguire and Walker had an impressive pass accuracy of 96,91 and 93 per cent respectively. Expect these three to continue in their roles for upcoming internationals. The other defenders in the squad Phil Jones and Gary Cahill were used sparingly
Kieran Trippier and Ashley Young had an excellent tournament as both of them proved to be equally competent in defence and attack. Trippier was arguably the best English player in the tournament and proved menacing with his crosses, corners and free kick deliveries. He attempted a total of 40 crosses which is highest for any player in the tournament. He also had one free kick goal and an assist to his credit.
Trippier definitely nailed the wing back position and will be an asset for England in coming years. Trippier's form also meant Alexender Arnold who had a breakthrough season at Liverpool got very limited chances to prove himself in England colours. He will be hoping to continue his development at Liverpool and provide more competition to Trippier in coming months.
One year back nobody expected Ashley young to be at the world cup but owing to his brilliant performances at left-back for Manchester United, he forced his way back into contention before eventually displacing Danny Rose. His crossing and set-piece delivery were also up to the mark. But like Cahill, this tournament might just be his last in England colours.
He will be thirty-five in time for Euro 2020 and Southgate might just be tempted to try some fresh faces for the Left Back position. Danny Rose has proved himself at international and club level in past, but his inconsistent form since return from injury forced Southgate to pick Ashley Young ahead of much younger Rose. It will be interesting to see if Luke Shaw can recapture his form for Manchester United and force his way into contention for Three Lions.
Midfield
Midfield will be a big concern for Gareth Southgate after they failed to create enough chances for their strikers despite dominating the possession in almost all the matches. Even though Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli put incredible displays, they sorely missed the presence of an experienced creative midfielder on the pitch.
Fit and in-form Jack Wilshere certainly would have been a perfect fit. Good displays at his new club West Ham would certainly force the manager to consider him for the future internationals. Lingard and Alli both scored one goal each. Lingard, in particular, was impressive with his passing after he successfully completed 92.5 per cent of his attempted passes. Also, he covered 68 KM on the football pitch throughout the World Cup which is a testament to his work rate and fitness.
Henderson in his deeper role had an excellent tournament. His passing and distribution helping England dominate midfield especially against smaller teams. Henderson had an impressive passing accuracy of 84 per cent in the tournament. His deputy Eric Dier also proving his worth whenever called upon.
But against quality opposition like Belgium and Croatia, both Dier and Henderson struggled to control the midfield which eventually cost England. It seemed like a tactical blunder from Southgate as he would have been better off starting with both Dier and Henderson especially in the later stages against like of Modric, Rakitic, De Bruyne and Witsel.
Loftus Cheek showed a lot of promise when called upon. His selection did raise eyebrows but some solid displays proved the doubters wrong. If he can get regular playing time at Chelsea(or any other Club), it will certainly improve his overall game. Fabian Delph was average, to say the least.
Attack
England's major problem this World Cup was the over-reliance on their captain Harry Kane to get the goals and he did not completely disappoint. But at the same time he was unable to replicate his club form for his country. Kane had fourteen attempts on goal, six of which were on target.
To be fair to Kane and his fellow strikers, England's midfield did not create enough chances in the final third. Kane is certainly one of the best strikers in world football currently and English fans will surely hope he will score lots of goals in future. He also emphatically converted all his four penalties which is impressive considering some of the big stars like Ronaldo and Messi failed to convert theirs. Also, he won a well deserved Golden boot award for his six goals.
Sterling was not able to score any goals in the tournament but with his pace and movement, he caused a lot of problems for the opposition. Expectations were high from Sterling considering he had scored 20 plus goals for his club this season. But he could not replicate his club form and was woeful with his finishing nor he was able to create any chances. He had just one attempt on target in 454 minutes of football.
Other strikers in the squad Rashford and Vardy started just one game each. Rashford played as a substitute in almost all the games and looked impressive. He is considered the second-best teenager in the world after Kylian Mbappe and will be keen to continue his development at Manchester United. Jamie Vardy on other hand is good backup for Kane.
