Why Simply Playing Tottenham's Stars at Euro 2016 Cannot Be England's Strategy
Managing a national team can’t be easy; once every several months you have to pick a squad of 20-something players, and no matter what you do, or who you pick, people will disagree with your choices.
Roy Hodgson, and every England manager before him, has been perpetually trapped between trying to reward good form with an international call-up and trying to provide a semblance of familiarity at a level where that can be nigh-on impossible to foster.
Even if he gets that right, there’s one last pitfall: There’s always one player who is “criminally overlooked” on a regular basis (enter West Ham fans with pitchforks shouting about Mark Noble).
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Even if Hodgson has parts of the plan for Euro 2016 in place, there are still key elements in flux. He wants Jack Wilshere to play at the base of his midfield and will give him every chance to prove his fitness—even if he only features a handful of times for Arsenal in the next few months—has a Wayne Rooney to deal with and probably doesn’t know his best defensive or midfield configurations.
Worse yet, Raheem Sterling is now injured and could miss up to eight weeks, according to BBC Sport, placing one of the few guaranteed starters (regardless of formation or tweaks) that actually had been decided in jeopardy. Joe Hart got hurt in the Manchester derby, too, but his injury looks to be rather short term and, to be fair, England are stacked at goalkeeper in a way that shames the class of FIFA World Cup 2010.
The big question, though—bigger than Wilshere’s involvement, bigger than Rooney’s role and bigger than what formation will be used—is, in so many words, just how “Tottenham” Hodgson wants to make this England squad, or how heavy a Spurs influence England should have at this summer’s European Championships.
The Mirror's Dave Kidd reported four, possibly five, of Mauricio Pochettino's men will start the upcoming friendly. You get the feeling this is the trial we've all been expecting.
Two things that are notoriously difficult to generate during short, sharp international periods are a) the familiarity and chemistry a club side might benefit from, and b) momentum. Trying to pull together the same squad every other month and picking up where you left off is difficult due to injuries and drops in form; likewise, some players don’t transfer form to international level because they’re being utilised differently there.
This brings us to Tottenham’s miraculous title chase—and its key English figures involved—rather nicely. Many would quite fairly suggest that building the Three Lions’ spine out of Spurs players straight off a scintillating Premier League season would be an obvious route to success. Even if they finish just shy of winning the division, they’ve still achieved above and beyond what was expected and their spirits will be high.
Better yet, it ticks the familiarity/chemistry box. Danny Rose, Kyle Walker, Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Harry Kane all a) play together for Spurs, and b) will contest for a role that has not yet been 100 percent nailed down in England’s squad. Conceivably, they could all start games in this upcoming batch of friendlies and make a case for themselves as tournament options.
The drawback for most here is that the five of them combine for an average age of 22.6, which is by no means high. Roy Hodgson warned against “hyping up” such a young and inexperienced crop last week, per James Riach of the Guardian:
A lot of England's players, when you take Wayne Rooney out of the equation, are still very inexperienced at international level. Lots don’t have double figures in caps. We need to be a bit careful before we say that Jamie Vardy, Harry Kane or Dele Alli are going to win us the Euros. You’re putting pressure on their shoulders that their CVs don’t bear.
It’s a point well made, but the buzz word of the season (when it comes to Tottenham)—bravery—could well debunk this concern from Hodgson. Dier, Alli and Kane—in addition to the others in that squad—have been positively fearless and, at the time of writing, have not let the fact they’re in an unlikely title race faze them. No, it’s not the inexperience of the Spurs crop that should be considered a red flag.
The concern should be that Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham system, the one that has allowed these players to flourish and star, is a very specific one; it demands a certain style of play that every single member of that dressing room has bought into. It’s high-pressure, high-energy, big on-ball recovery and boasts the most aggressive pair of full-backs you’ll witness outside of a Pep Guardiola tactical masterclass.
Walker, Rose and Dier, in particular, have all been given very specific roles by Pochettino. If they aren’t given those same roles in the England squad, there’s a real chance they won’t impress as much. That’s not a simplification or a slight, it’s just a reality.
It’s possible fielding all three might coax them into doing what they do naturally—that is, what they do in a Lilywhite shirt. Dier’s role of filling the space his full-backs leave and preventing danger before it happens is difficult to quantify—though brilliantly explained by uMAXit Football’s Seb Stafford-Bloor here—but it could transfer to international level if the parts around him move in a similar fashion.
All three would no doubt link well with Kane, and Alli’s connection with the striker is not in question—the two have combined for more goals than any other combination in Europe since the turn of the year.
But Alli plays in the advanced midfield line for Spurs as a narrow left-winger almost; Pochettino has been so reluctant to drop him deep that even Christian Eriksen has played as a No. 6/No. 8 instead of him. Will he occupy that role for England?
It would also mean the rest of the XI—the non-Spurs players—having to conform to this style—a distinctly un-Hodgson way of playing. Roy’s not typically bold and possibly regrets going so gung-ho at the 2014 World Cup. Given that a quarter-final berth is the minimum required from this summer’s tournament, he may naturally revert and play it safe. This wouldn’t suit Alli, Rose or Walker. It may even nullify the “advantages” (momentum and familiarity) that field so many from one club would bring.
There's also the argument that plenty of what makes these English players good at Tottenham is the un-English influences around them: the solidity and majesty of Toby Alderweireld, the rugged influence of Mousa Dembele and the Terminator-like approach Erik Lamela takes to pressing and tracking. These would be missing in England's setup.
None of this is to say Hodgson shouldn't attempt to replicate Pochettino’s Bielsa-rooted system, nor shy away from Tottenham’s impressive crop due to the possibility they won’t replicate what they’ve managed from August-March.
It’s to say that England have failed to produce a national footballing identity and it’s too late—with the Euros looming—to forge one that looks Spurs-ian enough to allow the players’ club successes to carry automatically into the national team. This is not La Furia Roja from 2008; Hodgson has no Xavi to wave a magic wand in midfield and conform everyone to his omnipotent way of playing.
If Hodgson wants to go bold this summer and build his side through Dier, Alli and Kane, then add Walker and Rose as flank decorations, it’s a legitimate strategy that could bear fruit. But there are pitfalls associated with doing this, and they are not simply rooted in the age or international inexperience of the players in question.
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