FIFA World Cup 2026: England Tournament Thread [R]

Some players who strike the ball well, esp from medium-distance like Rogers. May have a consistently high shooting technique. But when they take a pen, they plant their feet and pivot in a way that telegraphs which way they are going to shoot..

This is why attackers dont always necessarily make the best penalty takers. And sometimes we've seen defensive players who dont telegraph much at all. They just pick a side, dont 'over-think things' and concentrate on getting a clean strike of the ball..

Then of course you witness players who simply handle the pressure of taking a penalty more than an elite midfielder/attacker would in a life or death shootout.

 

Tuchel has already said that a major factor in selecting Ivan Toney was his penalty taking ability, so it's pretty obvious that he's taking the whole possibility of spot kicks very seriously. I'd be hugely surprised if, on the back of that, he ends up with the wrong personnel on the pitch at the end of 120 minutes.

 

Is anyone else concerned more broadly about the fact that so few of our attackers are in the habit of scoring for England full stop? Kane aside, only Rashford and Saka have decent goal-scoring records, and even then Rashford has been on a bit of a drought (I believe his only goal under Tuchel was a penalty). It would be really great to see Bellingham, Gordon or Rogers start scoring for us.

 

You do need multiple numbers of good penalty takers to give yourself the 'edge' in a shootout.
Toney is a player with a good record in pens. But if he's on and Kane's subbed off before 120mins (quite likely), then we are looking at a similar situation to the Euros with Toney (like 4 like) replacing Kane as one of the five shootout takers.

The obvious difference was in the Euros, we had Toney, Palmer and Trent on as subs to take a Pen. This time we dont have those options off the bench. We're looking at a real possibility of getting to the end of 120mins, with Eze, Madueke and possibly Gordon being on the pitch (as subs)..

 

It be typical to bring him on mainly for penalties and then he misses.

 

Yes I'm also concerned. This is one of the main reasons why I dont like the look of England in a 4231, esp the one that played against Serbia. Our wide forward options are too underwhelming. I would play 343 but keep Saka in the team. I think with the squad that Tuchel has chosen, this would get the most out of the players, even if that means dropping Rashford;

 

The trouble with is that a game doesn't always go to plan. IF we make it to a QTR final in Mexico City in heat and altitude is Kane going to last 120 minutes? I doubt it. Assuming he is fit at that stage of the tournament. I would expect any match including extra time to also include maximum substitutions. That is five plus one additional for extra time. Most of the players on for penalties could be substitutes. We probably need 10 good quality penalty takers to account for all eventualities and to have a balanced side towards the end of extra time.

This will also apply to our opponents. Tuchel will account for it but there is a danger in overprioritising penalties in choosing substitutes.

Making myself nervous here and any penalties are weeks away.

 

He should change his penalty technique. Every goalkeeper will know that he will stutter step and that standing until the last minute puts him under more pressure. If he takes his next one by running straight up and hitting it in a pre-determined bottom corner he will surprise the keeper. Kane has two main techniques which he mixes up. One of those is a stutter step. He also hits them in multiple locations. It is very difficult for keepers to know what he will do. Variety makes the keepers job much harder.

 

The good thing for England is eze has Time to practice penalties. Arsenal's loss is England's gain

 

Gordon is an excellent penalty taker though? His record is really strong and there's a big sample size to go off. Elliot Anderson is also a really good penalty taker.

 

1. James Trafford
2. Reece James
3. John Stones
4. Dan Burn
5. Djed Spence
6. Declan Rice (c)
7. Kobbie Mainoo
8. Jude Bellingham
9. Bukayo Saka
10. Anthony Gordon
11. Ivan Toney

EDIT: Maybe Quansah for Burn or Livramento for Spence. Madueke on at 45 off the bench as is Eze. Don't play Kane at all.

 

Functionally I don't think this would look any different to playing a 4-3-3 with Rogers on the left of the front three.

A formation is just a framework, how it looks in practice will be dictated by the profiles within it and what their natural tendencies are.

A 4-3-3 with Rogers on the left would see him constantly coming inside to the areas he feels most comfortable in, O'Reilly would still push high up the pitch because that's what he knows as a LB etc.

I personally think it'd look very clunky and congested with poor spacing, but I wouldn't be opposed to seeing it either. It would've been far better to try something like this in a friendly though.

 

Think he might give Dean Henderson minutes tomorrow. .

 

John Cross is saying Jordan Henderson thinks he will get more minutes during the World Cup than many fans expect. https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/england-world-cup-jordan-henderson-37267144
He also says Dan Burn offers something on the pitch as well.

 

What did Henderson say?

 

Gordons record in pens is indeed very good. Conversation rate is up there with Trent & Gibbs White and I would prefer Gordon ahead of Madueke/Eze/Rogers. I'm not sure how good Anderson is at Pens, but I would instinctively prefer Anderson over Rice to take one.

Although wouldn't it be great if after 120mins, drawing 2-2 against Argentina/Portugal, England had the luxury of both Palmer and Gordon both on (opposite sides) the pitch, with both available to take one?

The Palmer omission is the one that really stands out this time round. He's one of England's calmest penalty takers and has that relaxed body language for the big occasion, esp for a shootout. He scored in the UEFA Supercup final, scored off the bench in the Euro final vs Spain and was MOTM and buried PSG in the Club WC Final (The only final this PSG team lost and were well beaten). He's undeniably the most prolific big occasion player England have along with Bellingham.
I still cannot believe he left Palmer at home for Madueke. He stepped up to bury the first penalty in the shootout vs Switzerland and Southgate purposely chose him to go first. Where as a week ago, Madueke didn't even have the bottle to assert himself and take one vs PSG. Not to mention, the pressure of taking pens at club level, often doesn't compare to England in a WC Shootout.

If Tuchel had taken Trent as his 3rd choice RB, Palmer over Madueke and one proper LB instead of five CBs. England would be realistically looking at having 6/7 good penalty takers available for a shootout.

 

I totally get why he was left at home. He's been shit this season and doesn't deserve to go ahead of eze rogers or Bellingham. Nor Is he right to go ahead of madueke, who has been excellent for England plus he's got the right profile for kane. Running beyond him. A firing palmer would go 100 percent but Tuchel has taken in form players. Palmer needs a summer off to get himself fit

 

It just says he privately thinks he will play more than many fans expect. No direct quote. The article is very positive towards saying he was the best player on the pitch for the half he played on Saturday.

 

Well in that case I have no reason to believe John Cross at all.

 

I honestly wouldn’t be shocked if the article as fed information from the agent or other sources connected to Jordan Henderson. It was rather ott in its praise.

 

Rio Nguhoma puts frustrations under Arne Slot behind him to prove he can be a key player for England.

Plus - Arsenal players to be eased versus Costa Rica after late arrival to camp. Some players planning trip to Miami before heading to Kansas. https://t.co/pKezrAfZWm

— Sami Mokbel (@SamiMokbel_BBC) June 9, 2026

Sami Mokbel says it is unlikely any of the 4 Arsenal players will start tomorrow but the lineup will be closer to what Tuchel will start against Croatia. So who will partner Anderson and who will replace Saka and Madueke.

 

I'd like to see Ngumoha start tomorrow

 

TT conference starts at about 6.30

 

I get where you're coming from. But in 343 / 3421 , the key difference is that O'Reilly now becomes a wing-back.

That means England can create enough natural width on that left side, to allow Rogers to play as a genuine inside attacker. He can then stay closer to Kane (I dont mean occupy the same space), but spend more time near the half space and operate as that 2nd Striker he is at Villa, rather than trying to be a no10 for England, which he's not and never will be..

This system is the one that maximises O'Reilly and Rogers. In a 4231, Rogers is not a better option at LW than Rashford and he's not a better 10 than Bellingham. But he is a genuine goal threat under the right setup. Think of young Dele Alli under Pochettino and the way he played off Kane at Tottenham. That's what Rogers needs to be for England, not a 10 (that's Bellingham's job).

Again, with O'Reilly at LWB, he's got slightly less defensive burden with a back three. Now I wouldn't be so concerned seeing O'Reilly start at LB against an old team like Croatia or Panama. But in a back four against a proper team who can counter attack, I honestly dont trust Guehi and O'Reilly.
At Man City thi yr, O'Reillys biggest strength is he makes those really late (timed) runs really deep almost into the opponents six yard box and scores really important goals. Surely as a wing back, he has more freedom to do this than as a LB in a back four?

 

Mainoo or Scott in Midfield and Ngumoha on the wing.