IAN LADYMAN: Gareth Southgate's tactical tweak to move Jude Bellingham further up the field after dour USA draw is the most impressive of his tenure... as the England boss promises to keep his players on the front foot against France
- England will face France in the World Cup quarter-finals after beating Senegal
- Gareth Southgate has made many tactical decisions during his tenure as boss
- Few have been as impressive as his positional switch for Jude Bellingham
- The England midfielder has excelled and is now the rising star of this World Cup
- Southgate promised to keep attacking in the clash with France on Saturday
- Click here for the latest World Cup 2022 news, fixtures, live action and results
Gareth Southgate has made many tactical decisions during England’s steady rise to international football respectability and beyond. Some have been obvious, some rather more subtle.
But few have made such a dramatic and immediate impact as the one that changed Jude Bellingham’s role in his team in the wake of England’s one World Cup low point, the scoreless draw with the USA in the second game of Group B.
It already seems a distant memory but England were outplayed and outrun in midfield that night. Gregg Berhalter’s athletic young team could have won that game.
![Jude Bellingham put in another supreme display in England's win over Senegal on Sunday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/12/05/22/65272473-0-image-a-1_1670278610848.jpg)
Jude Bellingham put in another supreme display in England's win over Senegal on Sunday
![Gareth Southgate's decision to move Bellingham further forward has made such a dramatic and immediate impact for England's hopes at this World Cup](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/12/05/22/65272959-11505537-image-a-20_1670279819383.jpg)
Gareth Southgate's decision to move Bellingham further forward has made such a dramatic and immediate impact for England's hopes at this World Cup
And it was after that experience that Southgate and his assistant Steve Holland chose to move Bellingham further up field and free him of defensive midfield responsibilities by selecting Jordan Henderson alongside Declan Rice for the game against Wales.
Two matches, two wins and six goals later, Bellingham is now established as the rising star of this World Cup. The 19-year-old took Senegal apart with the power of his running and the intelligence of his play on Sunday evening.
All that remains to be seen now is whether Southgate — so often pigeonholed as conservative and pragmatic — has the courage to play exactly the same way against world champions France on Saturday back at the Al Bayt Stadium.
Asked about this yesterday, Southgate was unusually frank. ‘Well, we’ve always got to get the balance of the team right,’ he said. ‘We’re wanting to be positive and we feel we’ve done that so far in this tournament.
‘We’ve got energy in the team, we’ve got legs in the team, we’ve got depth in the squad. So I don’t think we should be drifting too far from what we’ve been.’
Such front-foot rhetoric will be music to the ears of those who came into this tournament fearing Southgate would suffocate his team’s attacking capabilities with a three-man defence and a blanket midfield.
![The England midfielder, 19, has excelled and is now the rising star of this World Cup](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/12/05/22/65273133-11505537-image-a-22_1670279845557.jpg)
The England midfielder, 19, has excelled and is now the rising star of this World Cup
Certainly the England manager has some thinking to do. For all that his team eventually tore Senegal to pieces on Sunday, England were poor for an opening half an hour during which central defender Harry Maguire looked particularly uncertain.
Southgate will ponder a return to three central defenders as he looks to cope with France’s attacking threat led by superstar forward Kylian Mbappe. But he is clear that he doesn’t want to do anything that may possibly disrupt the rhythm his team have suddenly found.
One of the many intriguing things about this World Cup is that we are now looking at a completely different version of England from the one that anybody really anticipated, and that includes the manager.
What has not changed is Southgate’s belief in his players and his enthusiasm for the task. France may nominally be the best team in the world and it may be that Didier Deschamps’ side prove this new England to be made of straw.
![Southgate's tweak came after England's dour draw against USA when the midfield struggled](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/12/05/22/65273137-11505537-Southgate_s_tweak_came_after_England_s_dour_draw_against_USA_whe-a-24_1670280324725.jpg)
Southgate's tweak came after England's dour draw against USA when the midfield struggled
Asked about Mbappe, Southgate said: ‘Look, he is a world-class player who is always producing the moments when they are needed and that is what those top, top players do. That is the challenge we face.’
But for now Southgate is happy to enjoy the anticipation of what lies ahead and also look back at a youth spent in thrall to a sport he has always loved.
One of his earliest football memories is of watching Bryan Robson score after just 27 seconds against France in the opening game of the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
‘Bryan was my hero and I remember both the goals he scored in that game,’ said Southgate. ‘It was my first World Cup watching England. I was a midfield player not of Bryan’s class but I used to chip in with a few goals.’
England’s World Cup of 1982 ended at the second group stage as key men Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking struggled with injuries and could not find the goal Ron Greenwood’s team needed to beat Spain and progress.
‘I had the sticker albums and though I did not actually buy the World Cup singles, I obviously know the songs,’ he smiled. ‘I don’t know how Ron was perceived at the time but they went out of that tournament without losing a game and you look back at the quality of the opponents they played.
‘I have that picture in my head of Kevin and Trevor coming on at the end when they were not fully fit and they were really, really close.’
For England to go further in this competition will in all likelihood require a performance above and beyond what Southgate’s players have produced so far. France are not perfect but they are formidable.
‘They have an incredible depth of talent,’ said Southgate. ‘They have obviously lost quite a few players ahead of this tournament yet you look at the team and you look at the squad. It is still remarkably strong.
‘They are full of speed, they are compact and difficult to play against. You know the style of game you are going to get and it is a brilliant challenge for us now.’
England have never beaten a team of France’s calibre away from home in a major tournament so — not for the first time in recent years — Southgate is seeking to break new ground.
‘We’ve made quite a bit of history over the last four or five years,’ he smiled.
![Southgate promised that his exciting England side would stay on the front foot against France](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/12/05/22/65273141-11505537-Southgate_promised_that_his_exciting_England_side_would_stay_on_-a-25_1670280324726.jpg)
Southgate promised that his exciting England side would stay on the front foot against France
![The England boss also highlighted the challenge of facing the 'world class' Kylian Mbappe](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/12/05/22/65272499-0-image-a-4_1670278626311.jpg)
The England boss also highlighted the challenge of facing the 'world class' Kylian Mbappe
‘Not all of it good! But that’s the great challenge. When you go back through those tournaments, you do see the teams that have knocked England out. We haven’t been able to do that so that’s the next test for this team.
‘There have been lots of moments when to play with England was difficult. It’s a different sort of challenge to your club. It’s far more scrutiny. So you have to be able to handle that. When we’re selecting players we’re looking at their ability to handle that mentally as much as anything else.
‘These young lads who have come in are showing that. The team do have good experience of these big games now. We had a lot of caps on the pitch, even the younger ones because we’ve blooded them early. And we’ve given them experiences.
‘It’s meant the depth of the squad but also the experience on the pitch is better than it’s been for quite a while.’
At their training base south of Doha yesterday, England’s reserve players were the only ones on view. Bellingham and the rest were inside using the pool, seeking to ease the stress of another demanding night of football from their legs.
The manager was out on the grass in the sunshine, though. It is starting to cool down a little here as December draws on, but not by much.
The heat of the World Cup grows more intense, meanwhile, and England are no longer a team in the shadows. Once again they are exactly where they wish to be.
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