England 5-0 Czech Republic: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis

#2 England’s leaders lead by example

Harry Kane steps up to the plate

The England team boasts a number of youngsters, thus making this team quite exuberant, vibrant and fresh. Southgate hasn’t been afraid to blood in the youngsters into the team and has given them a chance to showcase their talent. But in quite a young team like this, the experienced players need to set up, guide the youth and show authority on the field.

Today the likes of Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson and Harry Maguire did just that with an accomplished and mature performance. Kane put in an excellent performance as he was England’s main focal point and it was his pass that opened up the Czech defence for the opener.

The England captain regularly dropped deep to act as a playmaker which allowed Raheem Sterling and Jadon Sancho to run in the space he had vacated or made runs in behind the defence. His strong bullish mentality, the desire to every win ball and strong hold-up play makes him a complete centre forward.

Elsewhere, Henderson ran the show in midfield as he drove England forward, dictated the tempo of the game and quickly recovered the ball whenever they lost it. He is a very important presence in England’s engine room and provided further evidence why Southgate rates him so highly. Meanwhile, Maguire marshalled the backline well and did not give the Czech forwards a sniff at goal.