Analysing England's Performance at the World Cup and the Road Ahead

Midfield

Delli Alli

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.