Tactical analysis: England look exciting but how can they tighten up?

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Tactical analysis: England look exciting but how can they tighten up? Figure caption, Highlights: A six-goal thriller ends England 4-2 CroatiaByUmir Irfan Football tactics correspondentPublished2 hours agoEngland's 4-2 win against Croatia was full of exciting attacking football but the defensive part of the game raised some eyebrows with them looking open on a number of occasions. In football, what a team does in attack impacts how they defend and vice versa so it is important to assess both the on-the-ball and off-the-ball tactics together.

In this piece, we analyse the reasons why England looked less defensively secure in their World Cup opener compared with previous games under Thomas Tuchel. This was an England we haven't seen for years - and it was fun Published11 hours agoFrom one to 48 - every World Cup team ranked after first game Published7 hours agoKane stuck in midfield when England lost the ballIn the first half, England launched numerous dangerous direct attacks. They did this by first looking to pass the ball back hoping to entice the opposition to press high.

The Details

Declan Rice pulled into a wide position, vacating his central midfield position, leaving space into which Harry Kane would drop deep. With Croatia pressing high in numbers, Kane then looked to launch long passes into England's runners – Anthony Gordon, Jude Bellingham and Noni Madueke - who found themselves three against three at times. This resulted in England creating big chances but it also meant that if they were to lose the ball in earlier parts of their build-up play, Kane rather than Rice would be in central defensive areas.

This partly explains some of their defensive instability and can be seen in the example below. Image caption, Nico O'Reilly misplaces a pass in-field for Harry Kane (yellow) and England lose the ball. Kane's position here makes him a weakness defensively.

Top right of the picture, Declan Rice (white) is far from where he can make an impact defensively. Frequent turnovers when playing too directIn looking to pass the ball backwards to entice pressure from Croatia, before looking to play long into the space, England at times got the balance wrong. Anthony Barry, England's assistant coach, spoke at half-time about this issue.

What Experts Say

"I think a lot of nervous energy early on," he said. "Then we made some decisions, playing long when we should play short, playing short when we should play long, not playing through the gaps to accelerate our game the way we wanted to. "By playing too direct early and often, England turned the ball over perhaps more than they would have liked.

This created a first half that was more end-to-end, leaving spaces for the opponents to attack. Image caption, After dropping deep, Kane plays a long pass that doesn't find a team-mate. The ball falls to a Croatia midfielder in space as England's runners track back.

Kane (yellow) is now, momentarily, in a holding midfield position defensively.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.